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A PIONEER OUTLINE HISTORY OF 
NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 



1780 



i8$o 



PIONEER OUTLINE HISTORY 



Qortlwmeni ;Qnut0pJtoama 



EMBRACING 



THE COUNTIES OF TIOGA, POTTER, McKEAN, WARREN, 
CRAWFORD, VENANGO, FOREST, CLARION, ELK, JEFFERSON, 
CAMERON, BUTLER, LAWRENCE, AND MERCER 



ALSO 



A PIONEER SKETCH OF THE CITIES OF ALLEGHENY, BEAVER, DU BOIS, 

AND TOWANDA 



fflp first Ertollfttions of ■Broofeutllc, JJriuifSplDatua, 1S40=1S43, 
tohea mv feet lucre bare anB mp checks acre oratun 



BY 



■'■■ - ■ K N b ' i T, !> l.D. 



BROOKVILLE, PA. 

AUTHOR OF "MY FIRST RECOLLECTIONS OF BROOKVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA." "RECOLLECTIONS OK 

RIDGWAY, PENNSYLVANIA," ALSO OF THE " PIONEER HISTORY OF 

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA*' 




Philadelphia 



PRINTED BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 
190,- 



I 



y 






THESE PAGES 

ARE 

AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 

TO 

MRS. MARY (McKNIGHT) TEMPLETON 

Nee THOMPSON 



\ 







To write a pioneer history years and years after all the fathers and 
mothers have gone to that " country from whose bourn no traveller returns" 
is a task to appall the most courageous. To say it mildly, it is a task requiring 
a vast amount of labor and research, untiring perseverance, great patience, 
and discrimination. In undertaking this task I realized its magnitude, and 
all through the work I have determined that, if labor, patience, and perse- 
verance would overcome error and false traditions and establish the truth, the 
object of this book would be fully attained. This book is not written for gain, 
nor to laud or puff either the dead or the living. It is designed to be a plain, 
truthful narrative of pioneer men and events in the northwest. 

I have compiled, wherever I could, from the writings of others. This 
book it is hoped will enable you to 

" Lift the twilight curtains of the past 
And, turning from familiar sight and sound, 
Sadly and full of reverence, cast 
A glance upon tradition's shadowy ground." 



To accomplish this I have taken no account of travel, time, or expense, 
expecting all that to be a financial loss, but only working and desiring to make 
a true, reliable history. 

I am indebted to the following historical works, — viz., " Jefferson County 
Atlas," " Jefferson County History," Day's " Historical Recollections," Egle's 
" History of Pennsylvania," McKnight's pioneer history, and histories of 
Butler, Crawford, Clarion, Cameron, Elk, Forest, Lawrence, Mercer, McKean, 
Venango, Tioga, Potter, and Warren. 

I am also indebted to J. Sutton Wall for map tracings, and to the State 
Report of Public Instruction of 1877. 

5 



i 

PREFACE 



J 



A few errors in the " Pioneer History of Jefferson County" have since 
been discovered, and are corrected in this work. 

In every instance, as far as possible, credit has been given to the writings 
of those who have preceded me. But, dear reader. 



" Whoever thinks a faultless work to see, 
Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor e'er shall be. 
In every work regard the writer's end, 
Since none can compass more than they intend, 
And if the means be just, the conduct true, 
Applause, in spite of trivial faults, is due." 



Brookville, Pennsylvania, 1905. 



W. J. McKnight. 




./ 

V 







CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I 

PACE 

Introductory — Times, Privileges. Social Habits of the Pioneers, Christianity 
of those Days, etc 17 

CHAPTER II 

Our Aborigines — The Iroquois, or Six Nations — Indian Towns, Villages, 
Graveyards, Customs, Dress, Huts, Medicines, Doctors, Bark-peelers, 
Burials, etc 22 

CHAPTER III 

Cornplanter — Our Chief — Chief of the Senecas, One of the Six Nations — 
Brief History — Some Speeches — Life and Death 48 

CHAPTER IV 
The Purchase of 1784 at Fort Stanwix (now Rome), New York 55 

CHAPTER V 

Titles and Surveys — Pioneer Surveys and Surveyors — District Lines — Laws, 
References, and Reports — Streams and Highways — Donation Lands 76 

CHAPTER VI 

Pioneer Animals — Beavers, Buffaloes, Elks, Panthers, Wolves, Wild-cats, 
Bears, and other Animals — Habits, etc. — Pens and Traps — Birds — Wild 
Bees ' 107 

CHAPTER VII 

Bill Long, the " King Hunter" — The Hunter of Hunters in this Wilderness 
— Some of the Adventures and Life of " Bill Long" from his Childhood 
until he was Seventy Years Old 156 

CHAPTER VIII 

te Old State Road — Early Roads and Trails — Why the State Road was 
made — The First Attempt to open the Road — Laws, etc., touching the 
Subject — The Survey — The Road completed — The Act of the Legislature 
v hich sanctioned the building of the road l8l 



r\ 



I 



V \ 






CONTENTS 

CHAPTER IX 

Retort of the Com: 
-Streams, etc 194 



PA< 

Provision for opening a Road — Retort of the Commissioners to the Governor 



CHAPTER X 

Pioneer Settlement of Western Pennsylvania — Pioneer Pennsylvania Indian 
Traders — The Pioneer Road by Way of the South Branch of the Poto- 
mac and the Valley of the Kiskiminitas — The Pioneer Road from East 
to West, from Raystown (now Bedford) to Fort Duquesne (now Pitts- 
burg), a military Xecessity — General John Forbes opens it in the Sum- 
mer and Fall of 1758 — Colonel George Washington opposed to the Xew 
Road and in Favor of the Potomac Road — Death of General John Forbes 
— Pioneer Mail-Coaches, Mail-Routes, and Post-Offices 199 

CHAPTER XI 

Susquehanna and Waterford Turnpike — The Old Toll-Gates along the 
Rol-te — A Full History' of the Old Turnpike 311 



CHAPTER XII 

Pioneer Agriculture — How the Farmers in the Olden Time had to make 
Shift — The Pioneer Homes — Pioneer Food — Pioneer Evening Frolics — 
Trees, Snakes, and Reptiles — Soldiers of 1S12 — Pioneer Legal Relations 
of Man and Wife — Early and Pioneer Music — The First Screw Factory 
— Population of the State and of the United States 217 

CHAPTER XIII 

Pioneer Missionary Work. Pioneer Churches, Organization, etc. — Rev. John 
Jamieson and others — Synods and Preachers 256 

CHAPTER XIV 

Pioneer Circuit Courts — Pioneer Circuit Judges — President and Associates — 
Pioneer Bar and Early Lawyers 284 

CHAPTER XV 

The Pioneer Doctor in Xorthwestern Pennsylvania — Brookville's Pioneer 
Resurrection; or. Who Skinned the Nigger?— The True Story of the 
Origin of the State Anatomical Law 28S 

CHAPTER XVI 

White Slavery— Origin— Xature in Rome, Greece, and Europe — African- 
Slavery in Pennsylvania— George Bryan— Pioneer Colored Settler in 
Jefferson County— Census, etc.— Days of Bondage in Jefferson County 
and the Xorthwest 

S 



I 









CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XVII 



PAGE 



Pioneer Money 342 



CHAPTER XVIII 

" Scotch-Irish"— Origin of the Term under James I.— Lords and Lairds- 
Early Settlers in Pennsylvania " 346 



CHAPTER XIX 

The Common School System — Its Inception — Introduction into America — 
State Effort — History of Education in the State — Progress of Educa- 
tion, etc 349 

CHAPTER XX 
Statistics of 1840 361 

CHAPTER XX I 
My First Recollections of Brookville 376 

CHAPTER XXII 
Pioneer Preachers and Churches in Northwestern Pennsylvania 421 

CHAPTER XXIII 
Odd Fellowship in Northwestern Pennsylvania 434 

CHAPTER XXIV 
Pioneer Newspapers in Northwestern Pennsylvania 438 

CHAPTER XXV 

Butler County — County - Erected — Location of County Seat — Pioneer Roads, 
Settlers, Churches, Schools, Courts, Officers, Towns, and Boroughs — 
Indian Trails — Townships — Marketing — Mails 444 

CHAPTER XXVI 

Crawford County - — Formation of County - — Location of County Seat — Trails — 
Roads — Settlers — Lakes — The Meads — Turnpike — Holland Company — 
Churches— Canals — Boating — Animals — Oil — Elks — Pigeons — Salt Well — 
Weekly Mail — Murder — Lawyers — Villages — Soldiers of 1812 — Boroughs — 

Stage Route . . . .' 456 

9 



V 



\ 



CONTEXTS 
CHAPTER XXVI] 

r v.. I-. 

Ci \rion County — Formation of County — Location of County Seat — Roads — 
Courts — Turnpikes — Education — Churches — Settlers — Pioneer Conditions 
— Judge Clover — Trails — Captain Sam Brady — Lumbering — Furnaces — River 
— Storekeeper 474 

CHAPTER X X A" IT I 

Cameron County — Formation' of County — Location of County Seat — Courts — 
Officers — Trails and Roads — Settlers — Transportation — Whiskey - — Ani- 
mals -John Brooks— Schools and Churches — Newspapers — The Clafflin 
Giri s — Desperadoes — Stores — Townships — Indian Atrocities 486 

C HAPTER XX I X 

Elk County — Formation of County — Location of County Seat — Pioneer Roads, 
Settlers. Courts, Officers. Lawyers, Churches, and Schools — Judge Gillis 
— Rev. Jonathan Nichols — Mills — Tannery - — Boats and Rafting — Animals 
and Hunters— Staging — Pioneer Coal Mining 404 

C HAPTER XXX 

Forest Count* (Old) — Formation of County — County Seat — Pioneers — Pio- 
neer Roads and Paths — Pioneer Elections. Mails, and Offices — Boat- 
Building 518 

CHAPTER XXXI 

Jefferson County — Formation and Organization — Pioneer Settlers — Trees — 
Joseph Barnett — Indian Xames of Streams — Wagons — Roads — Stores — 
Murders — Court-House and Jail — Physicians — Militia — Bridges — Assess- 
ment and Settlers — Old Folks' Picnic 531 

CHAPTER X X X 1 1 

Lawrence County — When erected — County Seat located — Pioneer Court, Set- 
n er. Officers. Mails, Roads. Schools. Boroughs, Churches, and Preacher 
— Revolutionary Soldier Settlers 55S 

CHATTER XXXIII 

McKean County — Formation of County — Location of County Seat — Officers — 
Roads — Pioneer Settlers — Indian Xames of Streams — Hunters — Slaves — 
Hardships — Lands, etc 569 

CHAPTER XXXIV 

Mercer County — Formation of County — Location of County Seat — Settlers 
— Courts — Officers — Mails — County Roads — Doctors — Industries — Schools 
— Churches — Townships — Soldiers of 1S1-; — Masonry — Boroughs 579 

10 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XXXV 

Potter County — Erection — Location of County Seat — Courts and Officers — 
Settlers — Roads — Hardships — Animals and Hunters — Allegheny River, 
etc 59^ 

CHAPTER XXXVI 

Tioga County — Formation of County — Location of County' Seat — Settlers — 
Roads — Courts — Redemptioners — Churches — Schools — Streams — In- 
dian Trails — Hunters — Indian Captives — Animals, Habits, Customs, etc... 607 

C H A P T E R XXXVII 

Venango County — Formation of County' — Location of County Seat — Trails, 
Paths, Roads, and Turnpikes — Settlers — Stores — Schools and Churches 
— Canals — Steamboats — Mails — Merchants — Railroads — Seneca Oil — War 
of 1812 621 

CHAPTER XXXVIII 

Warren County' — Formation of County — Settlers — Location of County Seat — 
Courts — Paths and Roads — River Travel — Lumbering — Indians — Slavery' — 
cornplanter reservation — churches and schools — stage travel, etc 637 

CHAPTER XXXIX 
Allegheny City — Beaver City — Du Bois City — Towanda City' 659 

APPENDIX 

Some Local History — A Lincoln Story — The Memorable Campaign of 1864 — 
The Teachers' Institute — Early Postal Routes and Rides — Pennsylvania 
System of Railroads— Pioneer Railroads in Northwestern Pennsylvania 
— Allegheny Railroads — Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburg Railroad — The 
Abduction of William Morgan — Arrest and Trial of James L. Gillis, and 

WHAT BECAME OF MORGAN, ETC. 669 




V 




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



William James McKnight Frontispiece 

Northwestern Pennsylvania in 1780 18 

Captain George Smoke and John Smoke (Seneca Indians) 26 

Indians moving 28 

Indian stockade (bark houses) 43 

Gy-ant-wa-ka (the Cornplanter) 49 

Beaver 108 

Buffalo (American bison) in 

Elk 114 

Gray or timber wolf of Pennsylvania 118 

Pennsylvania bear 121 

Deer and Fawn in Mahoning Creek 126 

Porcupine 129 

Wild-cat 131 

River otter 132 

Red fox 133 

Opossum (colored plate) 134 

Squirrel 135 

Raven 137 

Bald eagle 138 

Wild turkey 139 

Blue-jay (colored plate) 140 

Crow r 143 

Woodpecker 144 

Red-shouldered hawk 146 

American goshawk 147 

Sharp-shinned hawk 148 

Wild pigeon 149 

Grouse or pheasant 149 

Belted kingfisher 15° 

Humming birds 150 

Straw bee-scap I5 1 

Bill Long, king hunter 15" 

Long fires at a panther 160 

13 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

COMMON BROWN BEAK k\5 

Bear and cubs 104 

Fen \i e pan tHEs 1-4 

Male panther ;... 1,-5 

PmviN,; LOGS 19a 

CONESTOG \ \\ VGON 105 

V vri \ b\k\ aia 

Port Barnett --14 

1824 50 215 

Clearing land 219 

1 \K\;r SPINNING-WHEE1 222 

Flax-brake 223 

sptnning-w hee1 . ree1 . and bed-warmer ----4 

> a \ voke \m> v1n lantern 225 

b vnded rattlesn \kk _\?4 

Copperhead 235 

R vTTi ess \kk Pete catching ratti ers 237 

Pk. Ferd. HOFFMAN, of Brookvtlle 23S 

Peter Gruber taking poison prom \ rattler -'40 

Blacksnake 241 

Pioneer cabin 251 

] UtfES McCURD} 253 

Cabin barn 255 

Branding si \\>ks 313 

Ol \R1 ES BROW \ Sli VCK1 ED IN BROOKVIl I K ] VII . 1834 3 S 

I , x ernor Joseph Ritner 353 

Cover s ■ > ■ orge Woi f 355 

Pioneer schooi house 35* 

Hon. ["haddeus Stevens 35/ 

seer saw mill 373 

Pioneer court-house \nd jail, iS.u 376 

Bennett's stage and Morrow's re am 381 

My mother 3&1 

Brookville kitchen, 1S40 390 

Rafting on North Fork , ; > " 

Western entrance ro Brookvills, 1S40 4^ 

John JAMIESON YpSILANTI THOMPSON 4oO 

Butler, 1843 4-44 

Pioneer farm -W 

Meadville, iS\^ 

Clarion, 1843 ■;"" 

I Ion Peter O ovfr 

Turning a boat 4S4 

>4 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

PACK 

Pioneer court-house, 1845 499 

Taking out a timber stick 504 

Nelson Gardner (a mighty hunter) and wife Mary 505 

Skidding logs 508 

Banking logs 51 1 

Joseph Smith Hyde 516 

Cyrus Blood 521 

Court-house 523 

John Conrad 525 

Rafting timber, Clarion River 527 

Building boat on Clarion River 529 

Robert Hamilton 546 

Pioneer academy 550 

Old folks' picnic 555 

Lawrence County court-house, 1852 563 

Paul Darling 575 

Mercer, 1843 583 

Potter County pioneer court-house and jail 597 

Edwin Haskell 603 

Mahlon J. Colcord 604 

Head-waters of Allegheny River 605 

John Du Bois 608 

Rafting to Pittsburg on the Allegheny River 628 

Old Warren 643 

Pioneer court-house 652 

Warren pioneer judges 655 

Methodist church, 1835 657 

Alexander Johnston Cassatt 661 

Beaver in 1843 665 

tona wanda in 1843 ^7 

William Augustus Patton 690 

Pioneer railroad train in the United States 693 

Arthur G. Yates 713 




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
LIST OF MAPS 

PACE 

Various purchases from the Indians 59 

Northwestern Pennsylvania (purchase of 1784) 67 

donation lands in pennsylvania (colored plate) 84 

Butler County 445 

Crawford County 457 

Erie County 471 

Clarion County' 475 

Elk County" 495 

Forest County 519 

Jefferson County 533 

Brookville, in Jefferson County 542 

Lawrence County 559 

McKean County - 57 [ 

Mercer County 581 

Potter County 593 

Tioga County 61 1 

Venango County - 623 

Warren County 639 








A PIONEER OUTLINE HISTORY OF 
NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

CHAPTER I 



INTRODUCTORY TIMES, PRIVILEGES, SOCIAL HABITS OF THE PIONEERS, CHRIS- 
TIANITY OF THOSE DAYS, ETC. 

" The deeds of our fathers in times that are gone, 
Their virtues, their prowess, the toils they endured." 

At this time all the pioneers have passed away, and the facts here given 
are collected from records and recollections. Every true citizen now and in 
the future of the northwest must ever possess a feeling of deep veneration 
for the brave men and courageous women who penetrated this wilderness and 
inaugurated civilization where savages and wild beasts reigned supreme. 
These heroic men and women migrated to this forest and endured all the 
hardships incidental to that day and life, and through these labors and tribu- 
lations they have transmitted to us all the comforts and conveniences of a 
high civilization. The graves have closed over all these pioneer men and 
women, and I have been deprived of the great assistance they could have 
been to me in writing this history. 

In 1780 railroads were unknown. To-day there are in the United States 
one hundred and seventy thousand miles of railroad. Over these roads there 
were carried, in 1897, five hundred million people and six hundred million tons 
of freight. Employed upon them are one million men, thirty thousand loco- 
motives, twenty-one thousand passenger cars, seven thousand baggage cars, 
and one million freight cars. The total capital invested is eight billion dollars. 
The disbursements for labor and repairs are yearly six hundred and fifty 
million dollars. And now, in 1905, as a Pennsylvanian, I am proud to say 
our own Pennsylvania road is the greatest, the best, and most perfect in 
management and construction of any road in the world. We have smoking- 
cars, with bath-room, barber-shop, writing-desks, and library ; we have dining- 
cars in which are served refreshments that a Delmonico cannot surpass ; we 
have parlor cars with bay-windows and luxurious furniture ; and we have 
cars with beds for sleeping soft as the " eider down." 
2 17 






HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

In the year 17S0 men were imprisoned for debt and kept in prison until 
the last farthing was paid. The jails of that day were but little better than 
dungeons. There was no woman's Christian temperance union, no woman's 
relief corps, no society for the prevention of cruelty to animals or children. 

In 17S0 domestic comforts were few. No stove had been invented. 
Large, deep fireplaces, with cranes, andirons, and bake-ovens, were the only 




Northwestern Pennsylvania in 17S0 

"A savage place — as lonely and enchanted 
As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted." 

modes of heating and cooking". Friction-matches were unknown. If the tire 
of the house went out. you had to rekindle with a flint or borrow of vour 
neighbor. I have borrowed fire. House furniture was then meagre and 
rough. There were no window-blinds or carpets. Rich people whitewashed 
their ceilings and rooms, and covered their parlor-floors with white sand. 
Hence the old couplet : 

" " Oh, dear mother, my toes are sore 
A dancing over your sanded floor.' " 

' lS 



\i 



c 




William James McKnight 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Pine-knots, tallow-dipped candles burned in iron or brass candlesticks, 
and whale oil burned in iron lamps were the means for light in stores, dwell- 
ings, etc. Food was scarce, coarse, and of the most common kind, with no 
canned goods or evaporated fruits. In addition to cooking in the open fire- 
place, women had to spin, knit, dye, and weave all domestic cloths, there being 
no mills run by machinery to make woollen or cotton goods. Mrs. Winslow's 
soothing syrup and baby-carriages were unknown. The bride of 1790 took 
her wedding-trip on foot or on horseback behind the bridegroom on a 
" pillion." 

Men wore no beards, whiskers, or moustaches, their faces being as clean 
shaven and as smooth as a girl's. A beard was looked upon as an abomina- 
tion, and fitted only for Hessians, heathen, or Turks. In 1780 not a single 
cigar had ever been smoked in the United States. I wish I could say that 
of to-day. There were no aniline dyes, no electric lights, no anaesthetics 
and painless surgery, no gun-cotton, no nitroglycerine, no dynamite, giant 
powder, audiphones, pneumatic tubes, or type-writers, no cotton-gin, no 
planting-machine, no mower or reaper, no hay-rake, no hay-fork, no corn- 
sheller, no rotary printing-press, no sewing-machine, no knitting-machine, 
no envelopes for letters, no india-rubber goods, coats, shoes, or cloaks, no 
grain-elevator except man, no artificial ice, no steel pens, no telegraph or 
telephone, no street-cars, no steam-mills, no daguerreotypes or photographs, 
no steam-ploughs, no steam-thresher (only the old hand-flail), no wind-mill, 
and no millionaire in the whole country. General Washington was the 
richest man, and he was only worth eight hundred thousand dollars. 

Previous to 1800, or the settlement of Northwestern Pennsylvania, there 
were about nine inventions in the world, — to wit, the screw, lever, wheel, 
windlass, compass, gunpowder, movable type, microscopes, and telescopes. 
About everything else has been invented since. To-day France averages 
about nine thousand and the United States twelve thousand a year. 

In 1800 the United States contained a population of 5,305,925. 

In 1800 Philadelphia and New York were but overgrown villages, and 
Chicago was unknown. Books were few and costly, ignorance the rule, and- 
authors famed the world over now were then unborn ; now we spend annually 
one hundred and forty million dollars for schools. Then there was no tele- 
graph, telephone, or submarine cable ; now the earth is girdled with telegraph 
wires, and we can speak face to face through the telephone a thousand miles 
apart, and millions of messages are sent every year under the waters of the 
globe. To-day in the United States an average of one to twelve telegraphic 
messages are sent every minute, day and night, the year through. 

In 1800 emigrants to America came in sailing-vessels. Each emigrant 
had to provide his own food, as the vessel supplied only air and water. The 
trip required a period of from thirty days to three months. Now this trip 
can be made by the use of Jefferson County coal in less than six days. Now 

19 






HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

ocean travel is a delight. Then canals for the passage of great ships and 
transatlantic steamers were unknown. 

In 1800 electricity was in its infancy, and travel was by sail, foot, horse- 
back, and by coach. Now we have steamers, street-cars, railroads, bicycles, 
and horseless carriages. Gas was unheard of for stoves, streets, or lights. 
Pitch-pine, fat, and tallow candles gave the only light then. 

In 1800 human slavery was universal, and irreligion was the order of the 
day. Nine out of every ten workingmen neither possessed nor ever opened 
a Bible. Hymn-books were unknown, and musical science had no system. 
Medicine was an illiterate theory, surgery a crude art, and dentistry unknown. 
No snap shots were thought of. Photography was not heard of. Now this 
science has revealed " stars invisible" and microscopic life beyond computation. 

In 1800 there were but few daily papers in the world, no illustrated ones, 
no humorous ones, and no correspondents. Modern tunnels were unknown, 
and there was no steam-heating. Flint and tinder did duty for matches. 
Plate-glass was a luxury undreamed of. Envelopes had not been invented, 
and postage-stamps had not been introduced. Vulcanized rubber and celluloid 
had not begun to appear in a hundred dainty forms. Stationary washtubs, 
and even washboards, were unknown. Carpets, furniture, and household 
accessories were expensive. Sewing-machines had not yet supplanted the 
needle. Aniline colors and coal-tar products were things of the future. Stem- 
winding watches had not appeared ; there were no cheap watches of any kind. 
So it was with hundreds of the necessities of our present life. 

In the social customs of our day, many minds entertain doubts whether 
we have made improvements upon those of our ancestors. In those days 
friends and neighbors could meet together and enjoy themselves, and enter 
into the spirit of social amusement with a hearty good-will, a geniality of 
manners, a corresponding depth of soul, both among the old and young, to 
which modern society is unaccustomed. Our ancestors did not make a special 
invitation the only pass to their dwellings, and they entertained those who 
visited them with a hospitality that is not generally practised at the present 
time. Guests did not assemble then to criticise the decorations, furniture, 
dress, manners, and surroundings of those by whom they were invited. They 
were sensible people, with clear heads and warm hearts ; they visited each 
other to promote mutual enjoyment, and believed in genuine earnestness in all 
things. We may ignore obligations to the pioneer race, and congratulate our- 
selves that our lot has been cast in a more advanced era of mental and moral 
culture ; we may pride ourselves upon the developments which have been 
made in science and art ; but, while viewing our standard of elevation as 
immeasurably in advance of that of our forefathers, it would be well to emu- 
late their great characteristics for hospitality, honor, and integrity. 

The type of Christianity of that period will not suffer by comparison 
with that of the present day. If the people of olden times had less for costly 



\ 

/ 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

apparel and ostentatious display, they had also more for offices of charity and 
benevolence ; if they did not have the splendor and luxuries of wealth, they 
at least had no infirmaries or paupers, very few lawyers, and but little use for 
jails. The vain and thoughtless may jeer at their unpretending manners and 
customs, but in all the elements of true manhood and true womanhood it may 
be safely averred that they were more than the peers of the generation that 
now occupy their places. That race has left its impress upon our times, — 
whatever patriotism the present generation boasts of has descended from them. 
Rude and illiterate, comparatively, they may have been, but they possessed 
strong minds in strong bodies, made so by their compulsory self-denials, their 
privations and toil. It was the mission of many of them to aid and participate 
in the formation of this great commonwealth, and wisely and well was the 
mission performed. Had their descendants been more faithful to their noble 
teachings, harmony would now reign supreme where violence and discord 
now hold their sway in the land. 

The pioneer times are the greenest spot in the memories of those who 
lived in them ; the privations and hardships they then endured are consecrated 
things in the recollection of the survivors. 

Our fathers established the first Christian, non-sectarian government in 
the world, and declared as the chief corner-stone of that government Christ's 
teaching, that all men are " born free and equal ;" love your neighbor as your- 
self. Since this thought has been carried into effect by our non-sectarian 
government, it has done more to elevate and civilize mankind in the last one 
hundred years than had ever been accomplished in all time before. Under the 
humane and inspiring influence of this grand idea put into practice, the wheels 
of progress, science, religion, and civilization have made gigantic strides, and 
our nation especially, from ocean to ocean, from arctic ice to tropic sun, is 
filled with smiling, happy homes, rich fields, blooming gardens, and bright 
firesides, made such by Christian charity carried into national and State con- 
stitutional enactment. 




ff^rav* «vrav* e^vs s^ravd c/"\d *£%d md tni «o* 
eCita eO» eO^ fws ?P? eO» ew^ ewte edte 



CHAPTER II 



OUR ABORIGINES THE IROQUOIS, OR SIX NATIONS INDIAN TOWNS, VILLAGES, 

GRAVEYARDS, CUSTOMS, DRESS, HUTS, MEDICINES, DOCTORS, BARK-PEELERS, 
BURIALS, ETC. 

Aquanuschioni, or " united people," is what they called themselves. 
The French called them the Iroquois ; the English, the Six Nations. They 
formed a confederate nation, and as such were the most celebrated and power- 
ful of all the Indian nations in North America. The confederacy consisted 
of the Mohawks, the fire-striking people; the Oneidas, the pipe-makers; 
the Onondagas, the hill-top people ; the Cayugas, the people from the lake ; 
the Tuscaroras, unwilling to be with other people ; and the Senecas, the 
mountaineers. 

The aborigines were called Indians because Columbus thought he had 
discovered India, and they were called Red Men because they daubed their 
faces and bodies with red paint. 

The Iroquois, or Six Nations, were divided into what might be called 
eight families, — viz., the Wolf, Bear, Beaver, Turtle, Deer, Snipe, Heron, 
and Hawk. Each of the Six Nations had one of each of these families in 
their tribe, and all the members of that family, no matter how wide apart 
or of what other tribe, were considered as brothers and sisters, and were 
forbidden to marry in their own family. Then a Wolf was a brother to all 
other Wolves in each of the nations. This family bond was taught from 
infancy and enforced by public opinion. 

" If at any time there appeared a tendency toward conflict between the 
different tribes, it was instantly checked by the thought that, if persisted in, 
the hand of the Turtle must be lifted against his brother Turtle, the toma- 
hawk of the Beaver might be buried in the brain of his kinsman Beaver. And 
so potent was the feeling that, for at least two hundred years, and until the 
power of the league was broken by the overwhelming outside force of the 
whites, there was no serious dissension between the tribes of the Iroquois. 

" In peace, all power was confined to ' sachems ;' in war, to ' chiefs.' The 
sachems of each tribe acted as its rulers in the few matters which required 
the exercise of civil authority. The same rulers also met in council to direct 
the affairs of the confederacy. There were fifty in all, of whom the Mohawks 

Note. — For much in this chapter I am indebted to Rupp's History. 

22 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

had nine, the Oneidas nine, the Onondagas fourteen, the Cayugas ten, and 
the Senecas eight. These numbers, however, did not give proportionate 
power in the councils of the league, for all the nations were equal there. 
There was in each tribe, too, the same number of war-chiefs as sachems, and 
these had absolute authority in time of war. When a council assembled, each 
sachem had a war-chief near him to execute his orders. But in the war-party 
the war-chief commanded and the sachem took his place in the ranks. This 
was the system in its simplicity. 

" The right of heirship, as among many other of the North America 
tribes of Indians, was in the female line. A man's heirs were his brother, — 
that is to say, his mother's son and his sister's son, — never his own son, nor 
his brother's son. The few articles which constituted an Indian's personal 
property — even his bow and tomahawk — never descended to the son of him 
who had wielded them. Titles, so far as they were hereditary at all, followed 
the same law of descent. The child also followed the clan and tribe of the 
mother. The object was evidently to secure greater certainty that the heir 
would be of the blood of his deceased kinsman. The result of the application 
of this rule to the Iroquois system of clans was that if a particular sachemship 
or chieftaincy was once established in a certain clan of a certain tribe, in that 
clan and tribe it was expected to remain forever. Exactly how it was filled 
when it became vacant is a matter of some doubt; but, as near as can be 
learned, the new official was elected by the warriors of the clan, and was then 
inaugurated by the council of the sachems. 

" If, for instance, a sachemship belonging to the Wolf clan of the Seneca 
tribe became vacant, it could only be filled by some one of the Wolf clan of 
the Seneca tribe. A clan council was called, and, as a general rule, the heir 
of the deceased was chosen to his place, — to wit, one of his brothers, reckoning 
only on the mother's side, or one of his sister's sons, or even some more dis- 
tant male relative in the female line. But there was no positive law, and the 
warriors might discard all these and elect some one entirely unconnected with 
the deceased, though, as before stated, he must be one of the same clan and 
tribe. While there was no unchangeable custom compelling the clan council 
to select one of the heirs of the deceased as his successor, yet the tendency 
was so strong in that direction that an infant was frequently chosen, a guar- 
dian being appointed to perform the functions of the office till the youth should 
reach the proper age to do so. All offices were held for life, unless the incum- 
bent was solemnly deposed by a council, an event which very seldom occurred. 
Notwithstanding the modified system of hereditary power in vogue, the con- 
stitution of every tribe was essentially republican. Warriors, old men, and 
women attended the various councils and made their influence felt. Neither 
in the government of the confederacy nor of the tribes was there any such 
thing as tyranny over the people, though there was a great deal of tyranny by 
the league over conquered nations. In fact, there was very little government 

2.3 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

of any kind, and very little need of any. There was substantially no property 
interests to guard, all land being in common, and each man's personal prop- 
erty being limited to a bow, a tomahawk, and a few deer-skins. Liquor had 
not yet lent its disturbing influence, and few quarrels were to be traced to 
the influence of women, for the American Indian is singularly free from the 
warmer passions. 

" His principal vice is an easily aroused and unlimited hatred ; but the 
tribes were so small and enemies so convenient that there was no difficulty in 
gratifying this feeling (and attaining to the rank of a warrior) outside of his 
own nation. The consequence was that although the war-parties of the Iro- 
quois were continually shedding the blood of their foes, there was very little 
quarrelling at home. 

" Their religious creed was limited to a somewhat vague belief in the 
existence of a Great Spirit and several inferior but very potent evil spirits. 
They had a few simple ceremonies, consisting largely of dances, one called 
the ' green-corn dance,' performed at the time indicated by its name, and 
others at other seasons of the year. From a very early date their most impor- 
tant religious ceremony has been the ' burning of the white dog,' when an 
unfortunate canine of the requisite color is sacrificed by one of the chiefs. To 
this day the pagans among them still perform this rite. 

" In common with their fellow-savages on this continent, the Iroquois 
have been termed ' fast friends and bitter enemies.' Events have proved, how- 
ever, that they were a great deal stronger enemies than friends. Revenge was 
the ruling passion of their nature, and cruelty was their abiding characteristic. 
Revenge and cruelty are the worst attributes of human nature, and it is idle 
to talk of the goodness of men who roasted their captives at the stake. All 
Indians were faithful to their own tribes, and the Iroquois were faithful to 
their confederacy ; but outside of these limits their friendship could not be 
counted on, and treachery was always to be apprehended in dealing with them. 

" In their family relations they were not harsh to their children and not 
wantonly so to their wives ; but the men were invariably indolent, and all labor 
was contemptuously abandoned to their weaker sex. 

" Polygamy, too, was practised, though in what might be called mod- 
eration. Chiefs and eminent warriors usually had two or three wives, rarely 
more. They could be discarded at will by their husbands, but the latter seldom 
availed themselves of their privilege. 

" Our nation — the Senecas — was the most numerous and comprised the 
greatest warriors of the Iroquois confederacy. Their great chiefs, Corn- 
planter and Guyasutha, are prominently connected with the traditions of the 
head-waters of the Allegheny, Western New York, and Northwestern Penn- 
sylvania. In person the Senecas were slender, middle-sized, handsome, and 
straight. The squaws were short, not handsome, and clumsy. The skin was 
reddish brown, hair straight and jet-black. 

24 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" After the death of a Seneca, the corpse was dressed in a new blanket 
or petticoat, with the face and clothes painted red. The body was then laid 
on a skin in the middle of the hut. The war and hunting implements of the 
deceased were then piled up around the body. In the evening after sunset, 
and in the morning before daylight, the squaws and relations assembled 
around the corpse to mourn. This was daily repeated until interment. The 
graves were dug by old squaws, as the young squaws abhorred this kind of 
labor. Before they had hatchets and other tools, they used to line the inside 
of the grave with the bark of trees, and when the corpse was let down they 
placed some pieces of wood across, which were again covered with bark, and 
then the earth thrown in, to fill up the grave. But afterwards they usually 
placed three boards, not nailed together, over the grave, in such a manner 
that the corpse lay between them. A fourth board was placed as a cover, and 
then the grave was filled up with earth. Now and then a proper coffin was 
procured. 

" At an early period they used to put a tobacco-pouch, knife, tinder-box, 
tobacco and pipe, bow and arrows, gun, powder and shot, skins and cloth 
for clothes, paint, a small bag of Indian corn or dried bilberries, sometimes 
the kettle, hatchet, and other furniture of the deceased, into the grave, sup- 
posing that the departed spirits would have the same wants and occupation 
in the land of souls. But this custom was nearly wholly abolished among the 
Delawares and Iroquois about the middle of the last century. At the burial 
not a man shed a tear ; they deemed it a shame for a man to weep. But, on 
the other hand, the women set up a dreadful howl." They carried their dead 
a long way sometimes for burial. 

THE ORIGINAL BARK-PEELERS 

An Indian hut was built in this manner. Trees were peeled abounding in 
sap, usually the linn. When the trees were cut down the bark was peeled 
with the tomahawk and its handle. They peeled from the top of the tree to 
the butt. The bark for hut-building was cut into pieces of six or eight feet ; 
these pieces were then dried and flattened by laying heavy stones upon them. 
The frame of a bark hut was made by driving poles into the ground, and the 
poles were strengthened by cross-beams. This frame was then covered inside 
and outside with this prepared linn-wood bark, fastened with leather-wood 
bark or hickory withes. The roof ran upon a ridge, and was covered in the 
same manner as the frame ; and an opening was left in it for the smoke to 
escape, and one on the side of the frame for a door. 

HOW THE INDIAN BUILT LOG HUTS IN HIS TOWN OR VILLAGE 

They cut logs fifteen feet long and laid these logs upon each other, at 
each end they drove posts in the ground and tied these posts together at the 
top with hickory withes or moose bark. In this way they erected a wall of logs 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

fifteen feet long to the height of four feet. In this same way they raised a 
wall opposite to this one about twelve feet away. In the centre of each end 
of this log frame they drove forks into the ground, a strong pole was then 
laid upon these forks, extending from end to end, and from these log walls 
they set up poles for rafters to the centre pole ; on these rafters they tied 
poles for sheeting, and the hut was then covered or shingled with linn- 
wood bark. This bark was peeled from the tree, commencing at the top, 




Captain George Smoke and his cousin John Smoke, who stood for this picture as a special favor for the 
author. They are Seneca Indians dressed and equipped as the Senecas of Northwestern Pennsylvania four 
hundred years ago 



with a tomahawk. The bark-strips in this way were sometimes thirty feet 
long and usually six inches wide. These strips were cut as desired for 
roofing. 

At each end of the hut they set up split lumber, leaving an open space at 
each end for a door-way, at which a bear-skin hung. A stick leaning against 
the outside of this skin meant that the door was locked. At the top of the 
hut, in place of a chimney, they left an open place. The fires were made in 
the inside of the hut, and the smoke escaped through this open space. For 
bedding they had linn-wood bark covered with bear-skins. Open places 
between logs the squaws stopped with moss gathered from old logs. 

There was no door, no windows, and no chimney. Several families occu- 
pied a hut, hence they built them long. Other Indian nations erected smaller 

26 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

huts, and the families lived separate. The men wore a blanket and went bare- 
headed. The women wore a petticoat, fastened about the hips, extending a 
little below the knees. 

Our nation, the Senecas, produced the greatest orators, and more of 
them than any other. Cornplanter, Red Jacket, and Farmer's Brother were 
all Senecas. Red Jacket once, in enumerating the woes of the Senecas, 
exclaimed, — 

" We stand on a small island in the bosom of the great waters. We are 
encircled, we are encompassed. The evil spirit rides on the blast, and the 
waters are disturbed. They rise, they press upon us, and the waters once 
settled over us, we disappear forever. Who then lives to mourn us? None. 
What marks our extinction ? Nothing. We are mingled with the common 
elements." 

The following is an extract from an address delivered by Cornplanter to 
General Washington in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1790: 

" Father, — When you kindled your thirteen fires separately the wise 
men assembled at them told us that you were all brothers, the children of one 
Great Father, who regarded the red people as his children. They called us 
brothers, and invited us to his protection. They told us he resided beyond 
the great waters where the sun first rises, and he was a king whose power 
no people could resist, and that his goodness was as bright as the sun. What 
they said went to our hearts. We accepted the invitations and promised to 
obey him. What the Seneca nation promises they faithfully perform. When 
you refused obedience to that king he commanded us to assist his beloved men 
in making you sober. In obeying him we did no more than yourselves had 
bid us promise. We were deceived ; but your people, teaching us to confide 
in that king, had helped to deceive us, and we now appeal to your breast. Is 
all the blame ours? 

" You told us you could crush us to nothing, and you demanded from us 
a great country as the price of that peace which you had offered us, as if our 
want of strength had destroyed our rights." 

" Drunkenness, after the whites were dealing with them, was a common 
vice. It was not confined, as it is at this day among the whites, principally to 
the ' strong-minded,' the male sex ; but the Indian female, as well as the male, 
was infatuated alike with the love of strong drink ; for neither of them knew 
bounds to their desire : they drank while they had whiskey or could swallow 
it down. Drunkenness was a vice, though attended with many serious conse- 
quences, nay, murder and death, that was not punishable among them. It 
was a fashionable vice. Fornication, adultery, stealing, lying, and cheating, 
principally the offspring of drunkenness, were considered as heinous and 
scandalous offences, and were punished in various ways. 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" The Delawares and Iroquois married early in life ; the men usually at 
eighteen and the women at fourteen ; but they never married near relations. 
If an Indian man wished to marry he sent a present, consisting of blankets, 
cloth, linen, and occasionally a few belts of wampum, to the nearest relations 
of the person he had fixed upon. If he that made the present, and the present 
pleased, the matter was formally proposed to the girl, and if the answer was 
affirmatively given, the bride was conducted to the bridegroom's dwelling 
without any further ceremony ; but if the other party chose to decline the 
proposal, they returned the present by way of a friendly negative. 

" After the marriage, the present made by the suitor was divided among 
the friends of the young wife. These returned the civility by a present of 
Indian corn, beans, kettles, baskets, hatchets, etc., brought in solemn pro- 
cession into the hut of the new married couple. The latter commonly lodged 
in a friend's house till they could erect a dwelling of their own. 

" As soon as a child was born, it was laid upon a board or straight piece 
of bark covered with moss and wrapped up in a skin or piece of cloth, and 







Indians moving 

when the mother was engaged in her housework this rude cradle or bed was 



hung to a peg or branch of a tree. Their children they educated to fit them 
to get through the world as did their fathers. They instructed them in re- 
ligion, etc. They believed that Manitou, their God, ' the good spirit,' could 
be propitiated by sacrifices ; hence they observed a great many superstitious 
and idolatrous ceremonies. At their general and solemn sacrifices the oldest 
men performed the offices of priests, but in private parties each man brought 
a sacrifice, and offered it himself as priest. Instead of a temple they fitted 
up a large dwelling-house for the purpose. 

" When they travelled or went on a journey they manifested much care- 
lessness about the weather: yet. in their prayers, they usually begged ' for a 

28 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

clear and pleasant sky.' They generally provided themselves with Indian 
meal, which they either ate dry, mixed with sugar and water, or boiled into 
a kind of mush ; for they never took bread made of Indian corn for a long 
journey, because in summer it would spoil in three or four days and be unfit 
for use. As to meat, that they took as they went. 

" If in their travels they had occasion to pass a deep river, on arriving at 
it they set about it immediately and built a canoe by taking a long piece of 
bark of proportionate breadth, to which they gave the proper form by fastening 
it to ribs of light wood, bent so as to suit the occasion. If a large canoe was 
required, several pieces of bark were carefully sewed together. If the voyage 
was expected to be long, many Indians carried everything they wanted for 
their night's lodging with them, — namely, some- slender poles and rush-mats, 
or birch-bark." 

When at home they had their amusements. Their favorite one was 
dancing. " The common dance was held either in a large house or in an open 
field around a fire. In dancing they formed a circle, and always had a leader, 
to whom the whole company attended. The men went before, and the women 
closed the circle. The latter danced with great decency and as if they were 
engaged in the most serious business ; while thus engaged they never spoke 
a word to the men, much less joked with them, which would have injured 
their character. 

" Another kind of dance was only attended by men. Each rose in his 
turn, and danced with great agility and boldness, extolling their own or their 
forefathers' great deeds in a song, to which all beat time, by a monotonous, 
rough note, which was given out with great vehemence at the commencement 
of each bar. 

" The war-dance, which was always held either before or after a cam- 
paign, was dreadful to behold. None took part in it but the warriors them- 
selves. They appeared armed, as if going to battle. One carried his gun or 
hatchet, another a long knife, the third a tomahawk, the fourth a large club, 
or they all appeared armed with tomahawks. These they brandished in the 
air, to show how they intended to treat their enemies. They affected such an 
air of anger and fury on this occasion that it made a spectator shudder to 
behold them. A chief led the dance, and sang the warlike deeds of himself 
or his ancestors. At the end of every celebrated feat of valor he wielded his 
tomahawk with all his might against a post fixed in the ground. He was then 
followed by the rest ; each finished his round by a blow against the post. Then 
they danced all together ; and this was the most frightful scene. They affected 
the most horrible and dreadful gestures ; threatened to beat, cut, and stab 
each other. They were, however, amazingly dexterous in avoiding the threat- 
ened danger. To complete the horror of the scene, they howled as dreadfully 
as if in actual fight, so that they appeared as raving madmen. During the 
dance they sometimes sounded a kind of fife, made of reed, which had a shrill 

29 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

and disagreeable note. The Iroquois used the war-dance even in times of 
peace, with a view to celebrate the deeds of their heroic chiefs in a solemn 
manner. 

" The Indians, as well as ' all human flesh,' were heirs of disease. The 
most common were pleurisy, weakness and pains in the stomach and breast, 
consumption, diarrhoea, rheumatism, bloody flux, inflammatory fevers, and 
occasionally the small-pox made dreadful ravages among them. Their gen- 
eral remedy for all disorders, small or great, was a sweat. For this purpose 
they had in every town an oven, situated at some distance from the dwellings, 
built of stakes and boards, covered with sods, or dug in the side of a 
hill, and heated with some red-hot stones. Into this the patient crept naked, 
and in a short time was thrown into profuse perspiration. As soon as the 
patient felt himself too hot he crept out, and immediately plunged himself 
into a river or some cold water, where he continued about thirty seconds, and 
then went again into the oven. After having performed this operation three 
times successively, he smoked his pipe with composure, and in many cases a 
cure was completely effected. 

" In some places they had ovens constructed large enough to receive sev- 
eral persons. Some chose to pour water now and then upon the heated stones, 
to increase the steam and promote more profuse perspiration. Many Indians 
in perfect health made it a practice of going into the oven once or twice a 
week to renew their strength and spirits. Some pretended by this operation 
to prepare themselves for a business which requires mature deliberation and 
artifice. If the sweating did not remove the disorder, other means were 
applied. Many of the Indians believed that medicines had no efficacy unless 
administered by a professed physician : enough of professed doctors could 
be found : many of both sexes professed to be doctors. 

" Indian doctors never applied medicines without accompanying them 
with mysterious ceremonies, to make their effect appear supernatural. The 
ceremonies were various. Many breathed upon the sick ; they averred their 
breath was wholesome. In addition to this, they spurted a certain liquor made 
of herbs out of their mouth over the patient's whole body, distorting their 
features and roaring dreadfully. In some instances physicians crept into the 
oven, where they sweat, howled, roared, and now and then grinned horribly 
at their patients, who had been laid before the opening, and frequently felt the 
pulse of the patient. Then pronounced sentence, and foretold either recovery 
or death. On one occasion a Moravian missionary was present, who says, 
'An Indian physician had put on a large bear-skin, so that his arms were 
covered with the forelegs, his feet with the hind legs, and his head was en- 
tirely concealed in the bear's head, with the addition of glass eyes. He came 
in this attire with a calabash in his hand, accompanied by a great crowd of 
people, into the patient's hut. singing and dancing, when he grasped a handful 
of hot ashes, and scattering them into the air, with a horrid noise, approached 

30 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

the patient, and began to play several legerdemain tricks with small bits of 
wood, by which he pretended to be able to restore him to health.' 

" The common people believed that by rattling the calabash the physician 
had power to make the spirits discover the cause of the disease, and even 
evade the malice of the evil spirit who occasioned it. 

" Their materia medica, or the remedies used in curing diseases, were 
such as rattlesnake-root, the skins of rattlesnakes dried and pulverized, thorny 
ash, toothache-tree, tulip-tree, dogwood, wild laurel, sassafras, Canada shrubby- 
elder, poison-ash, wintergreen, liverwort, Virginia poke, jalap, sarsaparilla, 
Canadian sanicle, scabians or devil's-bit, bloodwort, cuckoo pint, ginseng, and 
a few others. 

" Wars among the Indians were always carried on with the greatest 
fury, and lasted much longer than they do now among them. The offensive 
weapons were, before the whites came among them, bows, arrows, and clubs. 
The latter were made of the hardest kind of wood, from two to three feet long 
and very heavy, with a large round knob at one end. Their weapon of 
defence was a shield, made of the tough hide of a buffalo, on the convex side 
of which they received the arrows and darts of the enemy. But about the 
middle of the last century this was all laid aside by the Delawares and Iro- 
quois, though they used to a later period bows, arrows, and clubs of war. 
The clubs they used were pointed with nails and pieces of iron, when used at 
all. Guns were measurably substituted for all these. The hatchet and long- 
knife was used, as well as the guns. The army of these nations consisted of 
all their young men, including boys of fifteen years old. They had their cap- 
tains and subordinate officers. Their captains would be called among them 
commanders or generals. The requisite qualifications for this station were 
prudence, cunning, resolution, bravery, undauntedness, and previous good 
fortune in some fight or battle. 

' To lift the hatchet,' or to begin a war. was always, as they declared, 
not till just and important causes prompted them to it. Then they assigned 
as motives that it was necessary to revenge the injuries done to the nation. 
Perhaps the honor of being distinguished as great warriors may have been 
an ' ingredient in the cup.' 

" But before they entered upon so hazardous an undertaking they care- 
fully weighed all the proposals made, compared the probable advantages or 
disadvantages that might accrue. A chief could not begin a war without the 
consent of his captains, nor could he accept of a war-belt onlv on the condition 
of its being considered by the captains. 

" The chief was bound to preserve peace to the utmost of his power. But 
if several captains were unanimous in declaring war, the chief was then 
obliged to deliver the care of his people, for a time, into the hands of the 
captains, and to lay down his office. Yet his influence tended greatly either to 
prevent or encourage the commencement of war, for the Indians believed 

3i 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

that a war could not be successful without the consent of the chief, and the 
captains, on that account, strove to be in harmony with him. After war was 
agreed on, and they wished to secure the assistance of a nation in league with 
them, they notified that nation by sending a piece of tobacco, or by an embassy. 
By the first, they intended that the captains were to smoke pipes and consider 
seriously whether they would take part in the war or not. The embassy was 
intrusted to a captain, who carried a belt of wampum, upon which the object 
of the embassy was described by certain figures, and a hatchet with a red 
handle. After the chief had been informed of his commission, it was laid 
before a council. The hatchet having been laid on the ground, he delivered 
a long speech, while holding the war-belt in his hand, always closing the 
address with the request to take up the hatchet, and then delivering the war- 
belt. If this was complied with, no more was said, and this act was considered 
as a solemn promise to lend every assistance ; but if neither the hatchet was 
taken up nor the belt accepted, the ambassador drew the just conclusion that 
the nation preferred to remain neutral, and without any further ceremony 
returned home. 

" The Delawares and Iroquois were very informal in declaring war. They 
often sent out small parties, seized the first man they met belonging to the 
nation they had intended to engage, killed and scalped him, then cleaved his 
head with a hatchet, which they left sticking in it, or laid a war-club, painted 
red, upon the body of the victim. This was a formal challenge. In consequence 
of which, a captain of an insulted party would take up the weapons of the 
murderers and hasten into their country, to be revenged upon them. If he 
returned with a scalp, he thought he had avenged the rights of his own nation. 

" Among the Delawares and Iroquois it required but little time to make 
preparations for war. One of the most necessary preparations was to paint 
themselves red and black, for they held it that the most horrid appearance of 
war was the greatest ornament. Some captains fasted and attended to their 
dreams, with the view to gain intelligence of the issue of the war. The night 
previous to the march of the army was spent in feasting, at which the chiefs 
were present, when either a hog or some dogs were killed. Dog's flesh, said 
they, inspired them with the genuine martial spirit. Even women, in some 
instances, partook of this feast, and ate dog's flesh greedily. Now and then, 
when a warrior was induced to make a solemn declaration of his war inclina- 
tion, he held up a piece of dog's flesh in sight of all present and devoured it, 
and pronounced these words, ' Thus will I devour my enemies !' After the 
feast the captain and all his people began the war-dance, and continued till 
daybreak, till they had become quite hoarse and weary. They generally danced 
all together, and each in his turn took the head of a hog in his hand. As 
both their friends and the women generally accompanied them to the first 
night's encampment, they halted about two or three miles from the town, 
danced the war-dance once more, and the day following began their march. 

32 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Before they made an attack they reconnoitred every part of the country. To 
this end they dug holes in the ground ; if practicable, in a hillock, covered 
with wood, in which they kept a small charcoal fire, from which they discovered 
the motions of the enemy undiscovered. When they sought a prisoner or a 
scalp, they ventured, in many instances, even in daytime, to execute their 
designs. Effectually to accomplish this, they skulked behind a bulky tree, and 
crept slyly around the trunk, so as not to be observed by the person or persons 
for whom they lay in ambush. In this way they slew many. But if they had 
a family or town in view, they always preferred the night, when their enemies 
were wrapped in profound sleep, and in this way killed, scalped, and made pris- 
oners of many of the enemies, set fire to the houses, and retired with all pos- 
sible haste to the woods or some place of safe retreat. To avoid pursuit, they 
disguised their footmarks as much as possible. They depended much on 
stratagem for their success. Even in war they thought it more honorable to 
distress their enemy more by stratagem than combat. The English, not aware 
of the artifice of the Indians, lost an army when Braddock was defeated. 

" The Indian's cruelty, when victorious, was without bounds ; their thirst 
for blood was almost unquenchable. They never made peace till compelled 
by necessity. No sooner were terms of peace proposed than the captains laid 
down their office and delivered the government of the state into the hands of 
the chiefs. A captain had no more right to conclude a peace than a chief to 
begin war. When peace had been offered to a captain he could give no other 
answer than to mention the proposal to the chief, for as a warrior he could 
not make peace. If the chief inclined to peace, he used all his influence to 
effect that end, and all hostility ceased, and, in conclusion, the calumet, or 
peace-pipe, was smoked and belts of wampum exchanged, and a concluding 
speech made, with the assurance ' that their friendship should last as long 
as the sun and moon give light, rise and set; as long as the stars shine in 
the firmament, and the rivers flow with water.' " 

The weapons employed by our Indians two hundred years ago were axes, 
arrows, and knives of stone. Shells were sometimes used to make knives. 

The Indian bow was made as follows : the hickory limb was cut with a 
stone axe, the wood was then heated on both sides near a fire until it was soft 
enough to scrape down to the proper size and shape. 

A good bow measured forty-six inches in length, three-fourths of an inch 
thick in the centre, and one and a quarter inches in width, narrowing down 
to the points to five-eighths of an inch. The ends were thinner than the 
middle. Bow-making was tedious work. 

" The bow-string was made of the ligaments obtained from the vertebra 
of the elk. The ligament was split, scraped, and twisted into a cord by rolling 
the fibres between the palm of the hand and the thigh. One end of the string 
was knotted to the bow, but the other end was looped, in order that the bow 
could be quickly strung." 

3 33 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Quivers to carry the arrows were made of dressed buckskin, with or 
without the fur. The squaws did all the tanning. 

The arrow-heads were made of flint or other hard stone or bone ; they 
were fastened to the ash or hickory arrows with the sinews of the deer. The 
arrow was about two feet and a half in length, and a feather was fastened to 
the butt end to give it a rotary motion in its flight. 

Poisoned arrows were made by dipping them into decomposed liver, to 
which had been added the poison of the rattlesnake. The venom or decom- 
posed animal matter no doubt caused blood-poisoning and death.* 

Bows and arrows were long used by the red men after the introduction 
of fire-arms, because the Indian could be more sure of his game without 
revealing his presence. For a long time after the introduction of fire- 
arms the Indians were more expert with the bow and arrow than with the 
rifle. 

Their tobacco-pipes were made of stone bowls and ash stems. Canoes 
were made of birch or linn-wood bark, and many wigwam utensils of that 
bark. This bark was peeled in early spring. The bark canoe was the Ameri- 
can Indian's invention. 

When runners were sent with messages to other tribes the courier took 
an easy running gait, which he kept up for hours at a time. It was a " dog- 
trot," an easy, jogging gait. Of course he had no clothes on except a breech- 
clout and moccasins. He always carried both arms up beside the chest with 
the fists clinched and held in front of the breast. He ate but little the day 
before his departure. A courier could make a hundred miles from sunrise to 
sunset. 

When a young squaw was ready to marry she wore something on her 
head as a notice. 

Then kettles were made of clay, or what was called " pot stone." 

The stone hatchets were in the shape of a wedge ; they were of no use 
in felling trees. They did this with a fire around the roots of the tree. Their 
stone pestles were about twelve inches long and five inches thick. They used 
bird-claws for " fish-hooks." They made their ropes, bridles, nets, etc., out 
of a wild weed called Indian hemp. 

The twine or cords were manufactured by the squaws, who gathered 
stalks of this hemp, separating them into filaments, and then taking a number 
of filaments in one hand, rolled them rapidly upon their bare thighs until 
twisted, locking, from time to time, the ends with fresh fibres. The cord thus 
made was finished by dressing with a mixture of grease and wax, and drawn 
over a smooth groove in a stone. 

* It was originally the practice of our Indians, as of all other savage people, to 
cut off in war the heads of their enemies for trophies, but for convenience in retreat this 
was changed to scalping. 

34 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Their hominy-mills can be seen yet about a mile north of Samuel Teinple's 
barn, in Warsaw Township, Jefferson County. Corn, potatoes, and tobacco 
were unknown until the discovery of America. 

All the stone implements of our Indians except arrows were ground and 
polished. How this was done the reader must imagine. Indians had their 
mechanics and their workshops or " spots'' where implements were made. 
You must remember that the Indian had no iron or steel tools, only bone, stone, 
and wood to work with. The flint arrows were made from a stone of uniform 
density. Large chips were flaked or broken from the rock. These chips were 
again deftly chipped with bone chisels into arrows, and made straight by 
pressure. A lever was used on the rock to separate chips, — a bone tied to 
a heavy stick. 

From Jones's " Antiquities of the Southern Indians" the writer has 
gleaned most of the following facts : They had a limited variety of copper 
implements, which were of rare occurrence, and which were too soft to be 
of use in working so hard a material as flint or quartzite. Hence it is believed 
that they fashioned their spear- and arrow-heads with other implements than 
those of iron or steel. They must have acquired, by their observation and 
numerous experiments, a thorough and practical knowledge of cleavage, — 
that is, " the tendency to split in certain directions, which is characteristic of 
most of the crystallizable minerals." Captain John Smith, speaking of the 
Virginia Indians in his sixth voyage, says, " His arrow-head he quickly maketh 
with a little bone, which he weareth at his bracelet, of a splint of a stone or 
glasse, in the form of a heart, and these they glue to the ends of the arrows. 
With the sinews of the deer and the tops of deers' horns boiled to a jelly they 
make a glue which will not dissolve in cold water." Schoolcraft says, " The 
skill displayed in this art, as it is exhibited by the tribes of the entire con- 
tinent, has excited admiration. The material employed is generally some 
form of horn stone, sometimes passing into flint. No specimens have, how- 
ever, been observed where the substance is gun-flint. The horn-stone is less 
hard than common quartz, and can be readily broken by contact with the 
latter." Catlin, in his " Last Ramble among the Indians," says, " Every tribe 
has its factory in which these arrow-heads are made, and in these only certain 
adepts are able or allowed to make them for the use of the tribe. Erratic 
bowlders of flint are collected and sometimes brought an immense distance, 
and broken with a sort of sledge-hammer made of a rounded pebble of horn- 
stone set in a twisted withe, holding the stone and forming a handle. The 
flint, at the indiscriminate blows of the sledge, is broken into a hundred pieces, 
and such flakes selected as from the angles of their fracture and thickness will 
answer as the basis of an arrow-head. The master-workman, seated on the 
ground, lays one of these flakes on the palm of his hand, holding it firmly 
down with two or more fingers of the same hand, and with his right hand, 
between the thumb and two forefingers, places his chisel or punch on the 

35 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

point that is to be broken off, and a co-operator — a striker — in front of him, 
with a mallet of very, hard wood, strikes the chisel or punch on the upper 
end, flaking the flint off on the under side below each projecting point that is 
struck. The flint is then turned and chipped in the same manner from 
the opposite side, and that is chipped until required shape and dimensions 
are obtained, all the fractures being made on the palm of the hand. In 
selecting the flake for the arrow-head a nice judgment must be used or the 
attempt will fail. A flake with two opposite parallel, or nearly parallel, planes 
of cleavage is found, and of the thickness required for the centre of the arrow- 
point. The first chipping reaches nearly to the centre of these planes, but 
without quite breaking it away, and each clipping is shorter and- shorter, until 
the shape and edge of the arrow-head is formed. The yielding elasticity of 
the palm of the hand enables the chip to come off without breaking the body 
of the flint, which would be the case if they were broken on a hard substance. 
These people have no metallic instruments to work with, and the punch which 
they use, I was told, was a piece of bone, but on examining it, I found it to be 
of substance much harder, made of the tooth — incisor — of the sperm whale, 
which cetaceans are often stranded on the coast of the Pacific." 

" A considerable number of Indians must have returned and settled along 
the Red Bank as late as 1815-16. James White, of 'Mexico,' informed the 
writer that three hundred of them, about that time, settled along this stream 
below Brookville, partly in Armstrong County. Respecting their return to 
this section, Dr. M. A. Ward wrote to Eben Smith Kelly, at Kittanning, from 
Pittsburg, January 18, 1817, — 

" ' I am not at all surprised that the sober, industrious, religious inhabi- 
tants of Red Bank should be highly incensed at their late accession of emi- 
grants, not only because by them they will probably be deprived of many fat 
bucks and delicious turkeys, to which, according to the strict interpretation of 
all our game laws, they have as good a right, if they have the fortune to find 
and the address to shoot them, as any " dirty, nasty" Indians whatever, but 
because the presence and examples of such neighbors must have a very de- 
praving influence upon the morals. Their insinuating influence will be apt to 
divert the minds of the farmers from the sober pursuits of agriculture and 
inspire a propensity for the barbarous pleasures of the chase. . . . But what 
is worse than all, I have heard that they love whiskey to such an inordinate 
degree as to get sometimes beastly drunk, and even beat their wives and behave 
unseemly before their families, which certainly must have a most demoralizing 
tendency on the minds of the rising generation.' " — History of Armstrong 
County. 

The Delaware Indians styled themselves " Lenni Lenape," the original 
or unchanged people. The eastern division of their people was divided into 
three tribes, — the Unamies, or Turtles of the sea-shore ; the Unochlactgos, or 
Turkeys of the woods ; and the Minsi-monceys, or Wolves of the mountains. 

36 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

A few of the Muncy villages of this latter division were scattered as far west 
as the valley of the Allegheny. . . . i 

From Penn's arrival in 1682 the Delawares were subject to the Iroquois, 
or the confederacy of the Six Nations, who were the most warlike savages 
in America. The Iroquois were usually known among the English people as 
the Five Nations. The nations were divided and known as the Mohawks, the 
fire-striking people, having been the first to procure fire-arms. The Senecas, 
mountaineers, occupied Western New York and Northwestern Pennsylvania. 
They were found in great numbers along the Allegheny and its tributaries. 
Their great chiefs were Cornplanter and Guyasutha. This tribe was the 
most numerous, powerful, and warlike of the Iroquois nation, and comprised 
the Indians of Northwestern Pennsylvania. 

" But these were Indians pure and uncorrupted. Before many a log fire, 
at night, old settlers have often recited how clear, distinct, and immutable 
were their laws and customs ; that when fully understood a white man could 
transact the most important business with as much safety as he can to-day in 
any commercial centre. 

" In this day and age of progress we pride ourselves upon our railroads 
and telegraph as means of rapid communication, and yet, while it was well 
known to the early settlers that news and light freight would travel with 
incomprehensible speed from tribe to tribe, people of the present day fail to 
understand the complete system by which it was done. 

" In many places through the western counties you will find traces of pits, 
which the early settlers will tell you were dug by white men looking for silver, 
which, as well as copper, was common among the Indians, and was supposed 
by first comers to be found in the vicinity; but experience soon proved the 
copper came, perhaps, from Lake Superior, by this Indian express, as we 
might term it, and the silver, just as possible, from the far West. Our rail- 
roads wind along the valleys, almost regardless of length or circuit, if a gradual 
rise can only be obtained. To travellers on wheels straight distances between 
points are much less formidable than is generally supposed. We find traces 
of the example of the Indian in the first white men. The first settlers of 1799 
and 1805 took their bags of grain on their backs, walked fifty miles to a mill, 
and brought home their flour the same way." 

" The following is taken from the ' Early Days of Punxsutawney and 
Western Pennsylvania,' contributed a few years ago to the Punxsutawney 
Plaindealer by the late John K. Coxson, Esq., who had made considerable 
research into Indian history, and was an enthusiast on the subject. According 
to Mr. Coxson, ' More than eighteen hundred years ago the Iroquois held a 
lodge in Punxsutawney (this town still bears its Indian name, which was their 
sobriquet for "gnat town"), to which point they could ascend with their 
canoes, and go still higher up the Mahoning to within a few hours' travel of 
the summit of the Allegheny Mountains. There were various Indian trails 

37 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

traversing the forests, one of which entered Punxsutawney near where Judge 
Mitchell now (1898) resides. 

" ' These trails were the thoroughfares or roadways of the Indians, over 
which they journeyed when on the chase or the " war-path," just as the people 
of the present age travel over their graded roads. " An erroneous impression 
obtains among many at the present day that the Indian, in travelling the inter- 
minable forests which once covered our towns and fields, roamed at random, 
like a modern afternoon hunter, by no fixed paths, or that he was guided in 
his long journeyings solely by the sun and stars, or by the course of the 
streams and mountains ; and true it is that these untutored sons of the woods 
were considerable astronomers and geographers, and relied much upon these 
unerring guide-marks of nature. Even in the most starless nights they could 
determine their course by feeling the bark of the oak-trees, which is always 
smoothest on the south side and roughest on the north. But still they had their 
trails, or paths, as distinctly marked as are our county and State roads, and 
often better located. The white traders adopted them, and often stole their 
names, to be in turn surrendered to the leader of some Anglo-Saxon army, 
and, finally, obliterated by some costly highway of travel and commerce. They 
are now almost wholly effaced or forgotten. 1 lundreds travel along, or plough 
over them, unconscious that they are in the footsteps of the red men." * It 
has not taken long to obliterate all these Indian landmarks from our land; 
little more than a century ago the Indians roamed over all this western coun- 
try, and now scarce a vestige of their presence remains. Much has been written 
and said about their deeds of butchery and cruelty. True, they were cruel, 
and in many instances fiendish, in their inhuman practices, but they did not 
meel the first settlers in this spirit. Honest, hospitable, religious in their 
belief, reverencing their Manitou, or Greal Spirit, and willing to do anything 
to please their white brother, — this is how they met their first white visitors; 
hut when they had seen nearly all their vast domain appropriated by the 
invaders, when wicked white men had introduced into their midst the " wicked 
fire-water," which is to-day the cause of many an act of fiendishncss perpe- 
trated by those who are not untutored savages, then tin- Indian rebelled, all 
the savage in his breast was aroused, and he became pitiless and cruel in the 
extreme. 

' It is true that our broad domains were purchased and secured by treaty, 
but the odds were always on the side of the whites. The " Colonial Records" 
give an account of the treaty of [686, by which a deed for " walking purchase 
was executed, by which the Indians sold as far as a man could walk in a day. 
lint when the walk was to he made the most active white man was obtained, 
who ran from daylight until dark, as fast as he was able, without stopping to 
eat or drink. This much dissatisfied the Indians, who expected to walk leis- 

* This paragraph was taken from Judge Vecch. 
38 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

urely, resting at noon to cat and shoot game, and one old chief expressed his 
dissatisfaction as follows: ' Luii, lun, lun ; no lay down to drink; no stop 
to shoot squirrel, bnt Inn, Inn, Inn all day; me no keep up; Inn, Inn for land.' 
That deed, it is said, does not now exist, but was confirmed in 1737." 

'When the white man came the Indians were a temperate people, and 
their chiefs tried hard to prohibit the sale of intoxicating drinks among their 
tribes; and when one Sylvester Garland, in 1701, introduced rum among 
them and induced them to drink, at a council held in Philadelphia, Shemeken- 
whol, chief of the Shawnese, complained to Governor William Penn, and at 
a council held on the 13th of October, 1701, this man was held in the sum 
of one hundred pounds never to deal rum to the Indians again; and the bond 
and sentence was approved by Judge Shippen, of Philadelphia. At the chief's 
suggestion the council enacted a law prohibiting the trade in rum with the 
Indians. Still later the ruling chiefs of the Six Nations opposed the use of 
rum, and Red Jacket, in a speech at Buffalo, wished that whiskey would never 
be less than " a dollar a quart." He answered the missionary's remarks on 
drunkenness thus : " Go to the white man with that." A council, held on the 
Allegheny River, deplored the murder of the Wigden family in Butler County 
by a Seneca Indian while under the influence of whiskey, approved the sen- 
tence of our law, and again passed their prohibitory resolutions, and implored 
the white man not to give rum to the Indian.' 

"Mr. Coxson claims that the council of the Delaware's, Muncys, Shaw- 
nese, Nanticokes, Tuscorawas, and Mingos, to protest against the sale of their 
domain by the Six Nations, at Albany, in 1754, was held at Punxsutawney, 
and cites Joncaire's 'Notes on Indian Warfare,' 'Life of Bezant,' etc. ' It 
is said they ascended the tributary of La Iic-lle Riviere to the mountain village 
011 the way to Chinklacamoose (Clearfield) to attend the council.' :: At that 
council, though Sheklemas, the Christian king of the Delawares, and other 
Christian chiefs, tried hard to prevent the war, they were overruled, and the 
tribes decided to go to war with their French allies against the colony. ' Trav- 
ellers, as early as 1731. reported to the council of the colony of a town si\i\ 
miles from the Susquehanna.' f 

''After the failure of the expedition against Fort Duquesne, the while 
captives were taken to Kittanning, Logtown, and Pukeesheno (Punxsutaw- 
ney). The sachem, Pukeesheno (for whom the town was called), was the 
father of Tccumsch and his twin brother, the Prophet, and was a Shawnese. 
We make this digression to add another proof that Punxsutawney was named 
after a Shawnese chief as early as 1750.' J 

" ' 1 went with Captain Brady on an Indian hunt up the Allegheny River. 
We found a good many signs of the savages, and I believe we were so much 
like the savages (when Brady went on a scouting expedition lie always dressed 



'Joncaire. t Bezant. \ History of Western Pennsylvania, p. 302. 

39 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

in Indian costume) that they could hardly have known us from a band of 
Shawnese. But they had an introduction to us near the mouth of Red Bank. 
General Brodhead was on the route behind Captain Brady, who discovered 
the Indians on the march. He lay concealed among the rocks until the painted 
chiefs and their braves had got fairly into the narrow pass, when Brady and 
his men opened a destructive fire. The sylvan warriors returned the volley 
with terrific yells that shook the caverns and mountains from base to crest. 
The fight was short but sanguine. The Indians left the pass and retired, and 
soon were lost sight of in the deepness of the forest. We returned with three 
children recaptured, whose parents had been killed at Greensburg. We imme- 
diately set out on a path that led us to the mountains, to a lodge the savages 
had near the head-waters of Mahoning and Red Bank. 

' We crossed the Mahoning about forty miles from Kittanning, and 
entered a town, which we found deserted. It seemed to be a hamlet, built by 
the Shawnese. From there we went over high and rugged hills, through 
laurel thickets, darkened by tall pine and hemlock groves, for one whole day, 
and lay quietly down on the bank of a considerable stream (Sandy Lick). 
About midnight Brady was aroused by the sound of a rifle not far down the 
creek. We arose and stole quietly along about half a mile, when we heard 
the voices of Indians but a short distance below us ; there another creek 
unites its waters with the one upon whose banks we had rested. We ascer- 
tained that two Indians had killed a deer at a lick. They were trying to strike 
a light to dress their game. When the flame of pine-knots blazed brightly 
and revealed the visages of the savages, Brady appeared to be greatly excited, 
and perhaps the caution that he always took when on a war-path was at that 
time disregarded. Revenge swallowed and absorbed every faculty of his soul. 
He recognized the Indian who was foremost, when they chased him, a few 
months before, so closely that he was forced to leap across a chasm of stone 
on the slippery rock twenty-three feet; between the jaws of granite there 
roared a deep torrent twenty feet deep. When Brady saw Conemah he sprang 
forward and planted his tomahawk in his head. The other Indian, who had 
his knife in his hand, sprang at Brady. The long, bright steel glistened in his 
uplifted hand, when the flash of Farley's rifle was the death-light of the brave, 
who sank to the sands. . . . Brady scalped the Indians in a moment, and drew 
the deer into the thicket to finish dressing it, but had not completed his under- 
taking when he heard a noise in the branches of the neighboring trees. He 
sprang forward, quenched the flame, and in breathless silence listened for the 
least sound, but nothing was heard save the rustling of the leaves, stirred by 
the wind. One of the scouts softly crept along the banks of the creek to catch 
the faintest sound that echoes on the water, when he found a canoe down upon 
the beach. The scout communicated this to Brady, who resolved to embark 
on this craft, if it was large enough to carry the company. It was found to 
be of sufficient size. We all embarked and took the deer along. We had not 

40 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

gone forty rods down the stream when the savages gave a war-whoop, and 
about a mile off they were answered with a hundred voices. We heard them 
in pursuit as we went dashing down the frightful and unknown stream. We 
gained on them. We heard their voices far behind us, until the faint echoes 
of the hundreds of warriors were lost ; but, unexpectedly, we found ourselves 
passing full fifty canoes drawn up on the beach. Brady landed a short distance 
below. There was no time to lose. If the pursuers arrived they might over- 
take the scouts. It was yet night. He took four of his men along, and with 
great caution unmoored the canoes and sent them adrift. The scouts below 
secured them, and succeeded in arriving at Brodhead's quarters with the 
scalps of two Indians and their whole fleet, which disabled them much from 
carrying on their bloody expeditions.' 

" In the legend of Noshaken, the white captive of the Delawares, in 1753, 
who was kept at a village supposed to have been Punxsutawney, occurs the 
following : ' The scouts were on the track of the Indians, the time of burning 
of the captives was extended, and the whole band prepared to depart for Fort 
Venango with the prisoners. . . . They continued on for twenty miles, and 
encamped by a beautiful spring, where the sand boiled up from the bottom 
near where two creeks unite. Here they passed the night, and the next 
morning again headed for Fort Venango. 

" ' This spring is believed to have been the " sand spring" at Brookville.' " 
The Indian wampum, or money, was of two kinds, white and purple ; the 
white is worked out of the inside of the great shells into the form of a bead, 
and perforated, to string on leather ; the purple is taken out of the inside of 
the mussel shell ; they are woven as broad as one's hand and about two feet 
long ; these they call belts, which they give and receive at their treaties as the 
seals of friendship; for lesser matters a single string is given. Every bead 
is of known value, and a belt of a less number is made to equal one of a greater 
by fastening so many as is wanting to the belt by a string. 



PUNXSUTAWNEY 

Punxsutawney was an Indian town for centuries and, like all other towns 
of the Indian before the white man reached this continent with fire-arms, was 
stockaded. 

The word " punxsu" means gnat. The land was a swamp, and alive with 
gnats, mosquitoes, turtles, and reptiles. For protection against the gnats the 
Indians anointed themselves with oil and ointments made of fat and poisons. 
Centuries ago the Indians of Punxsutawney dressed themselves in winter with 
a cloak made of buffalo, bear, or beaver skins, with a leather girdle, and stock- 
ings or moccasins of buckskin. It might be well to state here that the beavers 
were of all colors, white, yellow, spotted, gray, but mostly black. The Indian 
subsisted mostly on game, but when pressed for food ate acorns, nuts, and the 

41 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

inside bark of the birch-tree. As agriculturists each was apportioned a piece 
of land outside of the stockade, which was planted by the squaws in corn, 
squashes, and tobacco. A hole was made in the ground with a stick and a 
grain of corn put in each hole. Population among Indians did not increase 
rapidly. Mothers often nursed their papooses until they were five, six, and 
seven years old. 

Not knowing how to dig wells, they located their ga-no-sote and villages 
on the banks of runs and creeks, or in the vicinity of springs. About the 
period of the formation of the league, when they were exposed to the inroads 
of hostile nations, and the warfare of migratory bands, their villages were 
compact and stockaded. Having run a trench several feet deep around five 
or ten acres of land, and thrown up the ground on the inside, they set a 
continuous row of stakes, burned at the ends, in this bank of earth, fixing 
them at such an angle that they inclined over the trench. Sometimes a village 
was surrounded by a double or even triple row of stakes. Within this enclosure 
they constructed their bark houses and secured their stores. Around it was 
the village field, consisting oftentimes of several hundred acres of cultivated 
land, which was subdivided into planting lots; those belonging to different 
families being bounded by uncultivated ridges. 

The entrances to the stockade were anciently contrived so that they could 
be defended from assault by a very few men. 

The Iroquois were accustomed to live largely in villages, and the stock- 
ades built about these villages protected them from sudden assaults and ren- 
dered it possible for the houses within to be built according to a method of 
construction such that they might last for a long time. 

At the two ends of the houses were doors, either of bark hung on hinges 
of wood, or of deer- or bear-skins suspended before the opening, and however 
long the house, or whatever number of fires, these were the only entrances. 
Over one of these doors was cut the tribal device of the head of the family. 
Within, upon the two sides, were arranged wide seats, also of bark boards, 
about two feet from the ground, well supported underneath, and reaching the 
entire length of the house. Upon these they spread their mats of skins, and 
also their blankets, using them as seats by day and couches at night. Similar 
berths were constructed on each side, about five feet above these, and secured 
to the frame of the house, thus furnishing accommodations for the family. 
Upon cross-poles near the roof were hung in bunches, braided together by the 
husks, their winter supply of corn. Charred and dried corn and beans were 
generally stored in bark barrels and laid away in corners. Their implements 
for the chase, domestic utensils, weapons, articles of apparel, and miscella- 
neous notions were stored away, and hung up wherever an unoccupied place 
was discovered. A house of this description would accommodate a family 
of eight, with the limited wants of the Indian, and afford shelter for their 
necessary stores, making a not uncomfortable residence. After they had 

42 



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HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

learned the use of the axe, they began to substitute houses of logs, but they 
constructed them after the ancient model. 

Our Indians were the Senecas, and they had six yearly festivals. These 
festivals consisted of dancing, singing, and thanksgiving to the Great Spirit 
for his gifts. The New Year was an acknowledgment for the whole year, 
and the white dog was sent to the Great Spirit to take to him their messages. 
The dog was the only animal they could trust to carry their messages. 

i. The Maple Festival, for yielding its sweet water. 

2. The Planting Festival. 

3. The Strawberry Festival. 

4. Green Corn Festival. 

5. The Harvesting Festival. 

6. New Year or White Dog Sacrifice. 

The Indians had no Sunday. Our Indians called themselves Nun-ga- 
wah-gah, " The Great Hill People," and their legend was that they sprung 
from the ground. The civil chiefs wore horns as an emblem of power. 

The moccasin was an Indian invention, and one of great antiquity. The 
needle was made from a bone taken from the ankle-joint of the deer, and the 
thread was from the sinews. The deer-skin was tanned by the use of the 
brains of the deer. The brains were dried in cakes for future use. Bear-skins 
were not tanned, but were used for cloaks and beds. 

Indian corn was red and white flint. They ground it in mortars and sifted 
it in a basket, and then baked it in loaves an inch thick and about six inches 
in diameter. They had a way of charring corn so it would keep for years. 
They would pick ears while green, roast it, dry it in the sun, mix with it about 
a third of maple sugar, and pound it into flour. This they carried with them 
on long trips. 

For ropes and straps, raw hide and barks were used ; the bark made the 
best ropes. The inside bark of the elm or bass-wood was boiled in ashes, 
separated into filaments, and then braided into rope. 

• Their knives were made of flint and horn-stone. Tomahawks were made 
of stone. They buried food with their dead. 

Their cooking-vessels could not be exposed to fire, hence they used large 
upright vessels made of birch-bark, in which to boil food. Repeatedly putting 
stones red-hot into the water in these vessels, forcing them to boil. 

The Indian was a great ball-player and fond of games, swift in races ; in 
truth, the Indian was built for fleetness and not for strength ; his life of pursuit 
educated him that way. Their feathers and war-paint was nothing else than 
crude heraldry. The squaws did the work, they were more apt than the 
braves. Paint spread upon the face and body indicated the tribe, prowess, 
honor, etc., of the individual and family, and the arbitrary methods employed 
by the squaws made their heraldry hard to understand. The facial heraldry 
was unique both in representation and subject. Every picture had its signifi- 

45 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

cance. If a squaw was in love she daubed a ring around one of her eyes. 
This meant I am ready for a proposal. This symbol worn by a buck indicated 
he was in the market, too. When love matters were running smoothly with a 
squaw she painted her cheeks a cherry-red, and a straight mark on her fore- 
head, which meant a happy road. A zigzag mark on the forehead meant 
lightning. In case of a death in the family the squaw painted her cheeks black. 
Before a battle each warrior had smeared on the upper part of his body a 
wolf, herron, snipe, etc., to indicate his tribe, so that if he was killed his tribe 
could recognize his body and come for it. 

In 1762 the great Moravian missionary, Rev. John Heckewelder, may 
have, and probably did, spend a day or two in Punxsutawney. In or about 
the year 1765 a Moravian missionary — viz., Rev. David Zeisberger — estab- 
lished a mission near the present town of Wyalusing, Bradford County, Penn- 
sylvania, He erected forty frame buildings, with shingle roofs and chimneys, 
in connection with other improvements, and Christianized a large number of 
the savages. The Muncy Indians were then living in what is now called 
Forest County, on the Allegheny River. This brave, pious missionary deter- 
mined to reach these savages also, and, with two Christian Indian guides, he 
traversed the solitude of the forests and reached his destination on the 16th 
of October, 1767. He remained with these savages but seven days; they 
were good listeners to his sermons, but every day he was in danger of being 
murdered. Of these Indians he wrote, — 

" I have never found such heathenism in any other parts of the Indian 
country. Here Satan has his stronghold. Here he sits on his throne. Here 
he is worshipped by true savages, and carries on his work in the hearts of the 
children of darkness." These, readers, were the Indians that roamed over our 
hills, then either Lancaster or Berks County. In 1768 this brave minister 
returned and put up a log cabin, twenty-six by sixteen feet, and in 1769 was 
driven back to what is now called Wyalusing by repeated attempts on his life. 
He says in his journal, " For ten months I have lived between these two 
towns of godless and malicious savages, and my preservation is wonderful." 

In 1768 the six Indian nations having by treaty sold the land from 
" under the feet" of the Wyalusing converts, the Rev. Zeisberger was com- 
pelled to take measures for the removal of these Christian Indians, with their 
horses and cattle, to some other field. After many councils and much consid- 
eration, he determined to remove the entire body to a mission he had estab- 
lished on the Big Beaver, now Lawrence County, Pennsylvania. Accordingly, 
"on the nth of June, 1772, everything being in readiness, the congregation 
assembled for the last time in their church and took up their march toward 
the setting sun." They were "divided into two companies, and each of these 
were subdivided. One of these companies went overland by the Wyalusing 
path, up the Sugar Run, and down the Loyal Sock, via Dushore. This com- 
pany was in charge of Ettwein, who had the care of the horses and cattle. 

46 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

The other company was in charge of Rothe, and went by canoe down the 
Susquehannah and up the west branch." The place for the divisions to unite 
was the Great Island, now Lock Haven, and from there, under the lead of 
Rev. John Ettwein, to proceed up the west branch of the Susquehanna, and 
then cross the mountains over the Chinklacamoose path, through what is now 
Clearfield and Punxsutawney, and from there to proceed, via Kittanning, to 
the Big Beaver, now in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania. Reader, just think 
of two hundred and fifty people of all ages, with seventy head of oxen and a 
greater number of horses, traversing these deep forests, over a small path 
sometimes scarcely discernible, under drenching rains, and through dismal 
swamps, and all this exposure continued for days and weeks, wild beasts 
to the right and to the left of them, and the path alive with rattlesnakes in 
front of them, wading streams and overtaken by sickness, and then, dear 
reader, you will conclude with me that nothing but " praying all night in the 
wilderness" ever carried them successfully to their destination. This story 
of Rev. Ettwein is full of interest. I reprint a paragraph or two that applies 
to what is now Jefferson County, — viz. : 

" 17^2, Tuesday, July 14. — Reached Clearfield Creek, where the Buffaloes 
formerly cleared large tracts of undergrowth, so as to give them the appearance 
of cleared fields. Hence the Indians called the creek ' Clearfield.' Here we 
shot nine deer. On the route we shot one hundred and fifty deer and three 
bears. 

" Friday, July 17. — Advanced only four miles to a creek that comes down 
from the Northwest." This was and is Anderson Creek, near Curwensville, 
Pennsylvania. 

" July 18. — Moved on . . . 

" Sunday, July 19. — As yesterday, but two families kept up with me, 
because of the rain, we had a quiet Sunday, but enough to do drying our 
effects. In the evening all joined me, but we could hold no service as the 
Ponkies were so excessively annoying that the cattle pressed toward and into 
our camp to escape their persecutors in the smoke of the fire. This vermin 
is a plague to man and beast by day and night, but in the swamp through 
which we are now passing, their name is legion. Hence the Indians call it 
the Ponsetunik, i.e., the town of the Ponkies." This swamp was in what we 
now call Punxsutawney. These people on their route lived on fish, venison, etc. 







CHAPTER III 



COKXPLAXTER. — OUR CHIEF CHIEF OF THE SENECAS. ONE OF THE SIX XATIOXS 

BRIEF HISTORY SOME SPEECHES LIFE AND DEATH 



In the year 17S4 the treaty to which Cornplanter, or Beautiful Lake, was 
a party was made at Fort Stanwix, ceding the whole of Northwestern Penn- 
sylvania to the Commonwealth, with the exception of a small individual reserve 
to Cornplanter. The frontier, however, was not at peace for some years after 
that, nor. indeed, until Wayne's treaty in 1705. 

Notwithstanding his bitter hostility, while the war continued, he became 
the fast friend of the Cnited States when once the hatchet was buried. His 
sagacious intellect comprehended at a glance the growing power of the Cnited 
States, and the abandonment with which Great Britain had requited the fidelity 
of the Senecas. He therefore threw all his influence at the treaty of Fort 
Stanwix. now Rome. New York, and Fort Harmar in favor of peace. And 
notwithstanding the large concessions which he saw his people were necessi- 
tated to make, still, by his energy and prudence in the negotiation, he retained 
for them an ample and beautiful reservation. For the course which he took 
on those occasions the State of Pennsylvania granted him the fine reservation 
upon which he resided on the Allegheny. The Senecas. however, were never 
satisfied with his course in relation to these treaties, and Red Jacket, more 
artful and eloquent than his elder rival, but less frank and honest, seized upon 
this circumstance to promote his own popularity at the expense of Cornplanter. 

Having buried the hatchet. Cornplanter sought to make his talents useful 
to his people by conciliating the good will of the whites and securing from 
further encroachment the little remnant of his national domain. On more 
than one occasion, when some reckless and bloodthirsty whites on the frontier 
had massacred unoffending Indians in cold blood, did Cornplanter interfere 
to restrain the vengeance of his people. During all the Indian wars from 
1701 to 1704. which terminated with Wayne's treaty. Cornplanter pledged 
himself that the Senecas should remain friendly to the Cnited States. He 
often gave notice to the garrison at Fort Franklin of intended attacks from 
hostile parties, and even hazarded his life on a mediatorial mission to the 
■Western tribes. 

The following is an extract from a speech of Cornplanter to representa- 
tives of the Cnited States government appointed to meet him at Fort Franklin. 
Sth of March. 1700: 

43 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" I thank the Almighty for giving us luck to meet together at this time, 
and in this place as brethren, and hope my brothers will assist me in writing 
to Congress what I have now to say. 

" I thank the Almighty that I am speaking this good day. I have been 
through all Nations in America, and am sorry to see the folly of many of the 







_J 



people. What makes me sorry is they all tell lies, and I never found truth 
amongst them. All the western Nations of Indians, as well as white people, 
have told me lies. Even in Council I have been deceived, and been told things 
which I have told to my chiefs and young men, which I have found not to be 
so, which makes me tell lies by not being able to make good my word, but I 
4 49 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

hope they will all see their folly and repent. The Almighty has not made us 
to lie. but to tell the truth one lo another, for when two people meet together, 
it they lie one to the other. I hem people cannot be at peace, and so it is with 
nations, and that is the cause of so much war. 

" General Washington, the father of us all, hear what 1 have now to say. 
and take pity on us poor people. The Almighty has blest you, and not us. 
Ho has given you education, which enables you to do many things that we 
cannot do. You can travel by sea as well as by land, and know what is doing 
in any other country, which we poor people know nothing about. Therefore 
you ought to pity us. When the Almighty first put us on this land he gave it 
to us to live on. And when the white people first came to it they were very 
poor, and we helped them all in our power ; did not kill them, but received 
them as brothers. And now it appears to me as though they were agoing to 
leave us in distress.'* — Pennsylvania Archives. 

" After peace was permanently established between the Indians and the 
United States, Cornplanter retired from public life and devoted his labors to 
his own people, lie deplored the evils of intemperance, and exerted himself 
to suppress it. The benevolent efforts of missionaries among his tribe always 
received his encouragement, and at one time his own heart seemed to be soft- 
ened by the words of truth, yet he preserved in his later years many of the 
peculiar notions of the Indian faith. 

" In 1821- 22 the commissioners of Warren County assumed the right to 
tax the private property of Cornplanter, and proceeded to enforce its collec- 
tion. The old chief resisted it. conceiving it not only unlawful, but a personal 
indignity. The sheriff again appeared with a small posse of armed men. 
Cornplanter took the deputation to a room around which were ranged about 
a hundred ritles, and, with the sententious brevity of an Indian, intimated that 
for each rifle a warrior would appear at his call. The sheriff and his men 
speedily withdrew, determined, however, to call out the militia. Several pru- 
dent citizens, fearing a sanguinary collision, sent for the old chief in a friendly 
way to come to Warren and compromise the matter. He came, and after some 
persuasion, gave his note for the tax. amounting to forty-three dollars and 
seventy-nine cents. He addressed, however, a remonstrance to the governor 
of Pennsylvania, soliciting a return of his money and an exemption from such 
demands against lands which the State itself had presented to him. The 
1 egislature annulled the tax. and sent two commissioners to explain the affair 
to him. He met them at the court-house in Warren, on which occasion he 
delivered the following speech, eminently characteristic of himself and his 
race : 

" ' Brothers, yesterday was appointed for us all to meet here. The talk 
which the governor sent us pleased us very much. I think that the Great 
Spirit is very much pleased that the white people have been induced so to 
assist the Indians as they have done, and that he is pleased also to see the 

50 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

great men of this State and of the United States so friendly to us. We are 
much pleased with what has been done. 

" ' The Great Spirit first made the world, and next the flying animals, 
and found all things good and prosperous. He is immortal and everlasting. 
After finishing the flying animals, he came down on earth and there stood. 
Then he made different kinds of trees and weeds of all sort, and people of 
every kind. He made the spring and other seasons and the weather suitable 
for planting. These he did make. But stills to make whiskey to be given to 
the Indians he did not make. The Great Spirit bids me tell the white people 
not to give Indians this kind of liquor. When the Great Spirit had made the 
earth and its animals, he went into the great lakes, where he breathed as easily 
as anywhere else, and then made all the different kinds of fish. The Great 
Spirit looked back on all that he had made. The different kinds he had made 
to be separate and not to mix with or disturb each other. But the white people 
have broken his command by mixing their color with the Indians. The Indians 
have done better by not doing so. The Great Spirit wishes that all wars and 
fightings should cease. 

" ' He next told us that there were three things for our people to attend 
to. First, we ought to take care of our wives and children. Secondly, the 
white people ought to attend to their farms and cattle. Thirdly, the Great 
Spirit has given the bears and deers to the Indians. He is the cause of all 
things that exist, and it is very wicked to go against his will. The Great 
Spirit wishes me to inform the people that they should quit drinking intoxi- 
cating drink, as being the cause of disease and death. He told us not to sell 
any more of our lands, for he never sold lands to any one. Some of us now 
keep the seventh day, but I wish to quit it, for the Great Spirit made it for 
others, but not for the Indians, who ought every day to attend to their business. 
He has ordered me to quit drinking intoxicating drink, and not to lust after 
any woman but my own, and informs me that by doing so I should live the 
longer. He made known to me that it is very wicked to tell lies. Let no one 
suppose that I have said now is not true. 

" ' I have now to thank the governor for what he has done. I have 
informed him what the Great Spirit has ordered me to cease from, and I wish 
the governor to inform others what I have communicated. This is all I have 
at present to say.' " — Day's Collections. 

The old chief appears after this again to have fallen into entire seclusion, 
taking no part even in the politics of his people. He died at his residence on 
the 7th of March, 1836, at the age of one hundred and four years. " Whether 
at the time of his death he expected to go to the fair hunting-grounds of his 
own people or to the heaven of the Christian is not known." 

" Notwithstanding his profession of Christianity, Cornplanter was very 
superstitious. ' Not long since,' says Mr. Foote, of Chautauqua County, ' he 
said the Good Spirit had told him not to have anything to do with the white 

51 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

people, or even to preserve any mementos or relics that had been given to him 
from time to time by the pale-faces, whereupon, among other things, he burnt 
up his belt and broke his elegant sword.' " 

In reference to the personal appearance of Cornplanter at the close of his 
life, a writer in the Democratic Arch (Venango County) says, — 

" I once saw the aged and venerable chief, and had an interesting inter- 
view with him about a year and a half before his death. I thought of many 
things when seated near him, beneath the wide-spreading shade of an old 
svcamore, on the banks of the Allegheny, — many things to ask him, the scenes 
of the Revolution, the generals that fought its battles and conquered, the 
Indians, his tribe, the Six Nations, and himself. He was constitutionally 
sedate, was never observed to smile, much less to indulge in the luxury of a 
laugh. When I saw him he estimated his age to be over one hundred ; I think 
one hundred and three was about his reckoning of it. This would make him 
near one hundred and five years old at the time of his decease. His person 
was stooped, and his stature was far short of what it once had been, not being 
over five feet six inches at the time I speak of. Mr. John Struthers, of Ohio, 
told me, some years since, that he had seen him near fifty years ago, and at 
that period he was at his height, — viz., six feet one inch. Time and hardship 
had made dreadful impressions upon that ancient form. The chest was 
sunken and his shoulders were drawn forward, making the upper part of his 
body resemble a trough. His limbs had lost size and become crooked. His 
feet (for he had taken oft" his moccasins) were deformed and haggard by 
injury. I would say that most of the fingers on one hand were useless ; the 
sinews had been severed by the blow of a tomahawk or scalping-knife. How 
I longed to ask him what scene of blood and strife had thus stamped the 
enduring evidence of its existence upon his person ! But to have done so 
would, in all probability, have put an end to all further conversation on any 
subject. The information desired would certainly not have been received, and 
I had to forego my curiosity. He had but one eye, and even the socket of the 
lost organ was hid by the overhanging brow resting upon the high cheek-bone. 
His remaining eye was of the brightest and blackest hue. Never have I seen 
one, in young or old, that equalled it in brilliancy. Perhaps it had borrowed 
lustre from the eternal darkness that rested on its neighboring orbit. His 
ears had been dressed in the Indian mode, all but the outside ring had been 
cut away. On the one ear this ring had been torn asunder near the top, and 
hung down his neck like a useless rag. He had a full head of hair, white as 
the driven snow, which covered a head of ample dimensions and admirable 
shape. His face was not swarthy, but this may be accounted for from the 
fact, also, that he was but half Indian. He told me he had been at Franklin 
more than eighty years before the period of our conversation, on his passage 
down the Ohio and Mississippi with the warriors of his tribe, in some expe- 
dition against the Creeks or Osages. He had long been a man of peace, and 

52 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

I believe his great characteristics were humanity and truth. It is said that 
Brandt and Cornplanter were never friends after the massacre of Cherry 
Valley. Some have alleged, because the Wyoming massacre was perpetrated 
by Senecas, that Cornplanter was there. Of the justice of this suspicion there 
are many reasons for doubt. It is certain that he was not the chief of the 
Senecas at that time. The name of the chief in that expedition was Ge-en- 
quah-toh, or He-goes-in-the-smoke. As he stood before me — the ancient chief 
in ruins — how forcibly was I struck with the truth of that beautiful figure of 
the old aboriginal chieftain, who, in describing himself, said he was ' like an 
aged hemlock, dead at the top, and whose branches alone were green' ! After 
more than one hundred years of most varied life, — of strife, of danger, of 
peace, — he at last slumbers in deep repose on the banks of his own beloved 
Allegheny. 

" Cornplanter was born at Conewongus, on the Genesee River, in 1732, 
being a half-breed, the son of a white man named John O'Bail, a trader from 
the Mohawk Valley. In a letter written in later years to the governor of Penn- 
sylvania he thus speaks of his early youth : ' When I was a child I played 
with the butterfly, the grasshopper, and the frogs ; and as I grew up I began 
to pay some attention and play with the Indian boys in the neighborhood, and 
they took notice of my skin being of a different color from theirs, and spoke 
about it. I inquired from my mother the cause, and she told me my father 
was a resident of Albany. I still ate my victuals out of a bark dish. I grew 
up to be a young man and married a wife, and I had no kettle or gun. I then 
knew where my father lived, and went to see him, and found he was a white 
man and spoke the English language. He gave me victuals while I was at his 
house, but when I started to return home he gave me no provisions to eat on 
the way. He gave me neither kettle nor gun.' 

" Little further is known of his early life beyond the fact that he was 
allied with the French in the engagement against General Braddock in July, 
1755. He was probably at that time at least twenty years old. During the 
Revolution he was a war chief of high rank, in the full vigor of manhood, 
active, sagacious, brave, and he most probably participated in the principal 
Indian engagements against the United States during the war. He is sup- 
posed to have been present at the cruelties of Wyoming and Cherry Valley, in 
which the Senecas took a prominent part. He was on the war-path with 
Brandt during General Sullivan's campaign in 1779, and in the following 
year, under Brandt and Sir John Johnson, he led the Senecas in sweeping 
through the Schoharie and Mohawk Valleys. On this occasion he took his 
father a prisoner, but with such caution as to avoid an immediate recognition. 
After marching the old man some ten or twelve miles, he stepped before him, 
faced about, and addressed him in the following terms: 

" ' My name is John O'Bail, commonly called Cornplanter. I am your 
son. You are my father. You are now my prisoner, and subject to the custom 

53 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

of Indian warfare; but you shall not be harmed. You need not fear. I am 
a warrior. Many arc the scalps which 1 have taken. Many prisoners have I 
tortured to death. 1 am your son. 1 was anxious to see you and greet you in 
friendship. 1 went to your cabin and took you by force ; but your life shall 
be spared. Indians love their friends and their kindred, and treat them with 
kindness. If you now choose to follow the fortunes of your yellow son and to 
live with our people, 1 will cherish your old age with plenty of venison, and 
you shall live easy. But if it is your choice to return to your fields and live 
with your white children, I will send a party of trusty young men to conduct 
you back in safety. 1 respect you, my father. You have been friendly to 
Indians, and they are your friends.' The elder O'Bail preferred his white 
children and green fields to his yellow offspring and the wild woods, and chose 
to return. 

" Cornplanter was the greatest warrior the Senecas, the untamable people 
of the hills, ever had, and it was his wish that when he died his grave would 
remain unmarked, hut the Legislature of Pennsylvania willed otherwise, and 
erected a monument to him with this beautiful inscription: 

" ' Gy-axt-wa-chia. The Corn-planter, 

John- O'Bail, Am \s Cornplanter, 

DIED 

At Cornplanter Town. Feb. iS. A.D. 1836, 

Aged about 100 years.' 

" Upon the west side is the following inscription: 

" ' Chief of the Seneca tribe, and a principal chief of the Six Nations from the 
period of the Revolutionary War to the time of his death. Distinguished for talent. 
courage, eloquence, sobriety, and love for tribe and race, to whose welfare he devoted 
his time, his energy, and his means during a long and eventful life.' " 




?w? ?w« eGTM ^QK» ewK» ?w» ew» ew^ ei**» 



CHAPTER IV 



THE PURCHASE OF I/S4 AT FORT STANWIX (NOW ROME), NEW YORK 

I reproduce from McKnight's " Pioneer History of Jefferson County" 
the following: 

" At the close of the war of the Revolution, in the year 1783, the owner- 
ship of a large area of the territory within the charter boundaries of Pennsylva- 
nia was still claimed by the Indians of the several tribes that were commonly 
known as the Six Nations. The last purchase of lands from the Six Nations 
by the proprietary government of the province was made at Fort Stanwix in 
November, 1768, and the limit of this purchase may be described as extending 
to lines beginning where the northeast branch of the Susquehanna River 
crosses the northern line of the State, in the present county of Bradford; 
thence down the river to the mouth of Towanda Creek, and up the same to 
its head-waters ; thence by a range of hills to the head-waters of Pine Creek, 
and down the same to the west branch of the Susquehanna; thence up the 
same to Cherry Tree ; thence by a straight line, across the present counties 
of Indiana and Armstrong, to Kittanning,* on the Allegheny River, and thence 
down the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers to the western boundary line of the 
province. The Indian claim, therefore, embraced all that part of the State 
lying to the northwest of the purchase lines of 1768, as they are here de- 
scribed. With the close of the Revolutionary struggle, the authorities of the 
new Commonwealth, anxiously looking to its future stability and prosperity, 
soon found themselves confronted with duties and responsibilities different 
in many respects from those that had engaged their serious attention and 
earnest effort during the previous seven years of war. They were to enact 
just and equitable laws for the government of a new State, and to devise 

* " Canoe Place," so-called in the old maps of the State to designate the head of 
navigation on the west branch of the Susquehanna River, is the point at which the pur- 
chase line of 176S from that river to Kittanning, on the Allegheny River, begins. A 
survey of that line was made by Robert Galbraith in the year 1786, and a cherry-tree 
standing on the west bank of the river was marked by him as the beginning of his sur- 
vey. The same cherry-tree was marked by William P. Brady- as~ the southeast cor- 
ner of a tract surveyed by him "at Canoe Place," in 1794, on warrant No. 3744, in the 
name of John Nicolson. Esq. The town of Cherry Tree now covers part of this 
ground. The old tree disappeared years ago. Its site, however, was regarded as of 
some historic importance, and under an appropriation of fifteen hundred dollars, granted 
by the Legislature in 1S93, a substantial granite monument has been erected to mark the 
spot where it stood. 

55 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

such measures as would stimulate its growth in wealth and population and 
promote the development, settlement, and improvement of its great domain. 

" As early as the I2th of March, 17S3. the General Assembly had passed 
an act setting- apart certain lands lying north and west of the Ohio and Alle- 
gheny Rivers and Conewango Creek to be sold for the purpose of redeeming 
the depreciation certificates given to the officers and soldiers of the Penn- 
sylvania Line who had served in the war of the Revolution, and also for the 
purpose of making donations of land to the same officers and soldiers in 
compliance with a promise made to them by a resolution passed in 17S0. It 
will be observed that when this act was passed the Indian claim of title to the 
lands mentioned was still in force ; but the State authorities, though seem- 
ingly slow and deliberate in their actions, were no doubt fully alive to the 
necessity of securing as speedily as possible the right to all the lands within 
the State — about five-sixteenths of its area — that remained unpurchased after 
the treaty at Fort Stanwix in 176S. With that purpose in view, the first 
movement made by the General Assembly to be found on record was on the 
35th day of September, 17S3. This action is in the form of a resolution passed 
on that day by the recommendation of the report of a committee that had been 
previously appointed ' to digest such plans as they might conceive necessary 
to facilitate and expedite the laying off and surveying of the lands' set apart 
by the act of the previous March. The resolution reads. — 

Resolved, unanimously. That the supreme executive council be. and 
they are hereby authorized and empowered to appoint commissioners to hold 
a meeting with the Indians claiming the unpurchased territory within the 
acknowledged limits of the State, for the purpose of purchasing the same. 
agreeable to ancient usage, and that all the expenses accruing from the said 
meeting and purchase be defrayed out of the Treasury of the State." — Penn- 
sylvania Archives, vol. x. p. in. 

" It next appears by a minute of the Supreme Executive Council, of Feb- 
ruary 23, 17S4. that Samuel John Atlee. William Maclay. and Francis John- 
ston were on that day chosen commissioners to treat with the Indians as 
proposed in the resolution of the General Assembly. The gentlemen named — 
all of them prominent citizens — were informed on the 29th of the same month 
of their appointment, but they did not acknowledge the receipt of President 
Dickinson's letter until the 17th of May following. On that day Messrs. Atlee 
and Johnston reply in a letter of thanks for the honor conferred upon them. 
and explain the delay as having been caused by circumstances that required 
Mr. Maclay and Colonel Atlee to visit their families, the first named still 
remaining absent. The letter also contains a statement of their views upon 
various matters pertaining to the mission upon which they are about to enter. 
They suggest Samuel Weiser, a son of Conrad Weiser. the noted Indian mis- 
sionary, as a proper person to notify the Indians of the desire to treat with 
them. and. from his familiarity with their language and customs, to act as 

50 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

interpreter. The time and place for holding the treaty are mentioned, but 
nothing- definite suggested, owing to the fact that the Continental Congress 
had likewise appointed commissioners to meet the Six Nations for the purpose 
of treating with them in relation to the lands of the Northwest, beyond the 
limits of Pennsylvania, and it was deemed proper to permit the representatives 
of Congress to arrange for the meeting.* Fort Stanwix, in the State of New 
York, was finally agreed upon as the place where the meeting should be held, 
and thither the commissioners on the part of Pennsylvania were directed to 
proceed. On the 25th of August, 1784, a committee of the General Assembly, 
having Indian affairs under consideration, made the following report: 

" ' That weighty reasons have occurred in favor of the design for hold- 
ing a conference with the Indians on the part of this State, and if under the 
present situation of Continental affairs that measure can be conducted on sure 
ground and without too unlimited an expense, it ought to take place and be 
rendered as effective as this House can make it, under whose auspices a foun- 
dation would thus be laid of essential and durable advantage to the public, by 
extending population, satisfying our officers and soldiers in regard to their 
donation lands and depreciation certificates, restoring that ancient, friendly, 
and profitable intercourse with the Indians, and guarding against all occasions 
of war with them.' — Pennsylvania Archives, vol. x. p. 316. 

" To aid the commissioners in their efforts to attain objects so worthy and 
laudable, the above report was accompanied by a resolution that authorized 
the Supreme Executive Council to expend nine thousand dollars in the pur- 
chase of ' such goods, merchandise, and trinkets 7 as would be acceptable to the 
Indians, to be given them as part of the consideration in the event of a pur- 
chase being made. In pursuance of this resolution the council promptly 
ordered a warrant to be issued by the treasurer in favor of the commissioners 
for the sum of £3375 (equivalent in Pennsylvania currency to nine thousand 
one hundred dollars), to be expended by them in purchasing the necessary 
articles. f 

" After a tedious and fatiguing journey, in which they met with a number 
of unexpected delays, the commissioners reached Fort Stanwix early in the 
month of October, where they found some of the tribes already assembled, 
and with them the commissioners of the Continental Congress. In a letter 
to President Dickinson, dated October 4, 1784, they announce their arrival, 
and state that the negotiations had already commenced, and while they would 
not venture an opinion as to the final issue, they say the disposition of the 
Indians appeared to be favorable. The negotiations continued until the 23d of 



* Pennsylvania Archives, vol. x. p. 265. 

t For a list of the articles designated in the order see Colonial Records, vol. xiv. 
p. 186. After the negotiations at Fort Stanwix had been concluded the commissioners 
gave an obligation for an additional thousand dollars in goods, to be delivered at 
Tioga. For this list see Pennsylvania Archives, vol. x. p. 496. 

57 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

the same month, and on that day ended in an agreement by which the Indian 
title to all the lands within the boundaries of the State that remained after 
the treaty of 1768 was extinguished. The Indians represented at the con- 
ference were the Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Senecas, the 
Cayugas, and the Tuscaroras. The consideration fixed for the surrender of 
their rights was five thousand dollars. The deed is dated October 23, 1784, 
is signed by all the chiefs of the Six Nations and by the Continental commis- 
sioners as witnesses. The boundaries of the territory ceded are thus de- 
scribed : ' Beginning on the south side of the river Ohio, where the western 
boundary of the State of Pennsylvania crosses the said river, near Shingo's 
old town, at the mouth of Beaver Creek, and thence by a due north line to 
the end of the forty-second and the beginning of the forty-third degrees of 
north latitude, thence by a due east line separating the forty-second and the 
forty-third degree of north latitude, to the east side of the east branch of the 
Susquehanna River, thence by the bounds of the late purchase made at Fort 
Stanwix, the fifth day of November, Anno Domini one thousand seven hun- 
dred and sixty-eight, as follows : Down the said east branch of Susquehanna, 
on the east side thereof, till it comes opposite to the mouth of a creek called 
by the Indians Awandac, and across the river, and up the said creek on the 
south side thereof, all along the range of hills called Burnet's Hills by the 

English and by the Indians , on the north side of them, to the head of a 

creek which runs into the west branch of Susquehanna, which creek is by the 
Indians called Tyadaghton, but by the Pennsylvanians Pine Creek, and down 
the said creek on the south side thereof to the said west branch of Susque- 
hanna, thence crossing the said river, and running up the south side thereof, 
the several courses thereof to the forks of the same river, which lies nearest 
to a place on the river Ohio called Kittanning, and from the fork by a straight 
line to Kittanning aforesaid, and thence down the said river Ohio by the 
several courses thereof to where said State of Pennsylvania crosses the same 
river at the place of beginning.' After the commissioners had accomplished 
in so satisfactory a manner the object for which they had journeyed to Fort 
Stanwix, it became necessary to appease the Western Indians, the Wyandots 
and the Delawares, who also claimed rights in the same lands. The same 
commissioners were therefore sent to Fort Mcintosh, on the Ohio River, at the 
site of the present town of Beaver, where, in January, 1785, they were suc- 
cessful in reaching an agreement with those Indians for the same lands. This 
deed, signed by the chiefs of both tribes, is dated January 21, 1785, and is in 
the same words (except as to the consideration money, which is two thousand 
dollars) and recites the same boundaries as the deed signed at Fort Stanwix 
in the previous month of October.* 

* The conference of the commissioners at Fort Stanwix and Fort Mcintosh with 
the deeds signed at those places are published in the Appendix to the General Assembly 
for the session of February to April, 1785. 

58 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

"After the purchase of 1768 a disagreement arose between the proprie- 
tary government and the Indians as to whether the creek flowing into the west 
branch of the river Susquehanna, and called in the deed ' Tyadaghton.' was 
intended for Lycoming Creek or Pine Creek. The Indians said it was the 
former, and that the purchase only extended that far ; the proprietaries claimed 
the latter stream to be the extent of the purchase, but, in order to avoid any 
trouble that might arise from the dispute, it was wisely determined that no 
rights should be granted for lands west of Lycoming Creek. This deter- 
mination, however, did not deter or prevent adventurous pioneers from enter- 
ing upon and making settlements within the disputed territory, and from 
their persistency in so doing arose an interesting, not to say serious, condition 
of affairs, to which reference will again be made. The commissioners at Fort 
Stanwix were instructed to ascertain definitely from the Indians which of the 
two streams they meant by ' Tyadaghton.' They then admitted that it was 
Pine Creek, being the largest emptying into the west branch of the Sus- 
quehanna. 

" The Indian claim of right to the soil of Pennsylvania, within its charter 
limits, had thus, in a period of a little more than one hundred years, ceased 
to exist. A glance at a map of the State will show that within the magnificent 
domain that comprises the purchase of 1784 are to be found at the present 
day the counties of Tioga, Potter, McKean, Warren, Crawford, Venango, 
Forest, Clarion, Elk, Jefferson, Cameron, Butler, Lawrence, and Mercer, and 
parts of the counties of Bradford, Clinton, Clearfield, Indiana, Armstrong, 
Allegheny, Beaver, and Erie.* This large and important division of our 
great Commonwealth, now teeming with population and wealth, the abiding- 
place of a noble civilization, and containing within its boundaries thousands 
upon thousands of homes of comfort and many of elegance and luxury, fertile 
valleys to reward the labor* of the husbandman, thriving villages, busy towns, 
and growing, bustling cities, was, in 1784, largely an uninhabited and untrav- 
ersed wilderness. 

" LANDS EAST OF THE ALLEGHENY RIVER AND CONEWANGO CREEK 

" The General Assembly of the State did not delay in enacting laws which 
would open to settlers and purchasers that part of the late acquisition that had 
not been otherwise appropriated. As a matter of fact, in anticipation of the 
purchase, an act was passed on the 1st day of April, 1784, in which it was 
provided that as soon as the Indians were ' satisfied for the unpurchased 
lands,' the supreme executive council should give official information thereof 
to the surveyor-general, who was then to appoint district surveyors to survey 
all such lands within the purchase as should ' be found fit for cultivation.' 
The tracts were to contain not more than five hundred nor less than two 



* See accompanying map, which shows the extent of the purchase. 

61 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

hundred acres each, and were to be numbered on a general draft of each dis- 
trict. When a certain number of lots were surveyed, they were to be sold at 
public auction, the purchaser having the privilege of paying one moiety at the 
time of purchase and receiving a credit of two years for the other moiety. 
The mode of disposing of the lands thus indicated was soon changed by sub- 
sequent legislation. By an act passed December 21, 1784, to amend the act 
of April 1 , the provisions of the law for sales by public auction and the giving 
of credit were repealed. Section 6 of the act provided that the land-office 
should be open on the 1st day of May, 1785, to receive applications for lands 
at the rate of £30 * for every hundred acres of the same, and that the survey 
of an application should not contain more than one thousand acres, with the 
usual allowance of six per centum for highways. This act was intended to 
apply to all lands within the purchase, except the lands north and west of the 
Ohio and Allegheny Rivers and Conewango Creek (which, as already men- 
tioned, had been appropriated for the redemption of depreciation certificates 
and for the donations of land to the soldiers of the Pennsylvania Line) and 
the disputed territory between Lycoming and Pine Creeks. By Section 7, a 
warrant issued in pursuance of the act was not descriptive, and was not 
confined to any particular place, but could be located on any vacant land, not 
within the excepted districts, that the applicant might select. Sections 8, 9, 
and 10 of the act provide for the persons who occupied lands between Ly- 
coming and Pine Creek, in violation of the proprietary mandate. The situa- 
tion of these settlers was peculiar. When the disagreement in regard to the 
purchase lines of the purchase of 1768 occurred, the proprietaries, always 
extremely anxious to avoid giving offence to the Indians, decided to withhold 
the territory between the two streams from sale and settlement until the 
differences could be properly adjusted by mutual agreement. Though many 
applications for land west of Lycoming Creek were on file, surveys would 
not be accepted, and at the same time stringent orders were issued protesting 
against persons making settlement beyond that stream, and warning those 
already there to depart. In defiance of warnings, protests, and proclamations, 
however, many sturdy, self-reliant men persisted in occupying the forbidden 
ground, where they found themselves beyond the bounds of lawful authority, 
and could not expect to receive encouragement or protection from the pro- 
prietary government. But with the energy and courage common to pioneer 
settlers they at once began the work of subduing the wilderness and building 
homes for their families, and from accounts that have come down to us, the 
little community, if it did not live in luxury, was at least able to earn a sub- 
sistence that was not- meagre in quantity, whatever may have been its quality. 
Being without law or government, the members of the community were com- 
pelled by the necessities of their situation and surroundings to adopt a system 

* In Pennsylvania currency this was at the rate of eighty cents an acre. 

62 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

of government of their own, the details of which are not fully known. All, 
however, were under solemn obligations to support and defend their agreement 
for mutual support and protection. They called themselves Fair-Play Men, 
and it is known that annually they elected three of their number to constitute 
a court, which held stated meetings to dispense justice. To this tribunal all 
disputes and controversies were referred for settlement, and from its decisions 
there was no appeal. A stranger coming among them was obliged to appear 
before the court and promise under oath to submit to the laws of the com- 
munity. If he did this, he could remain, take possession of unoccupied land, 
and receive assistance in building his cabin. If he would not take the obliga- 
tion, he was quickly notified to absent himself without delay, which he usually 
did, without awaiting the call of a committee, whose methods of expulsion 
might be none too gentle. Many of these brave frontiersmen served in the 
army during the Revolutionary War, and Section 8 of the act recited that by 
reason of their services as soldiers, they merited the ' pre-emption of their 
respective plantations.' Sections 9 and 10 of the same act allowed a pre- 
emption to all settlers and their legal representatives who had settled on the 
lands between the two streams prior to the year 1780, limiting each claim to 
three hundred acres, providing that the application should be made and the 
consideration paid on or before November 1, 1785. It will be remembered that 
the time fixed by the act of December 21, 1784, for the land-office to be opened 
to receive applications was May 1, 1785. Before that day arrived, however, 
the Legislature passed another act, which, in many respects, changed the policy 
previously pursued in disposing of unappropriated lands. This act became a 
law on the 8th day of April, 1785, and with it came the practice, as provided 
in the act, of numbering all warrants for land in the last purchase to the east 
of the Allegheny River and Conewango Creek, a change in practice that has 
always been regarded as a valuable improvement on the old system. The act 
is entitled ' An act to provide further regulations, whereby to secure fair and 
equal proceedings in the land-office, and the surveying of lands.' It was 
believed that when the office was opened on the day fixed by the law, numerous 
applications would be made at the same time, and that preference would 
necessarily be given to some persons to the disadvantage of others, and thereby 
cause dissatisfaction. In order to prevent any one from profiting by such 
preference, it was enacted in Section 2 of the act that the priority of all 
warrants to be granted on applications received during the first ten days after 
the opening of the office should be determined by a lottery to be drawn under 
the supervision of the Secretary of the Land-Office. Not more than one 
thousand acres were to be included in one application, and the warrants were 
to be numbered ' according to the decision of the lottery.' For conducting the 
lottery the section contains minute directions. All applications made after the 
expiration of ten days were to have priority according to the order in which 
thev came into the hands of the Secretarv, and were to be numbered accord- 

63 ' 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

ingly. The other sections of the act relate mainly to the duties of the surveyor- 
general and the deputy-surveyors to be by him appointed, and the way in 
which surveys were to be made and returned. It also prescribes the fees to be 
received by the officers of the land office and the deputy-surveyors, and 

attaches the territory east of the Allegheny River and Conewango Creek to 
Northumberland County, a pan of which county it remained until Lycoming 
County was formed in 1795, when it became part of that county. The remain- 
ing portion of the purchase was attached to Westmoreland County, and so 
continued until Allegheny was formed in 1788. when it was included in the 
boundary of that county. The applications received during the first ten days 
from the opening of the office were listed and numbered, placed in the lottery- 
wheel, and drawn therefrom in the manner provided by the second section 
of the act. They numbered five hundred and sixty-four, and warrants for 
that number of tracts were issued, and received a number that corresponded 
with the number drawn from the wheel. These warrants were called ' North- 
umberland Count) 1 Ottery Warrants, 3 and under that designation are yet 
carried on the warrant registers of the office. They could be. and were, 
located in such localities within the purchase east of the Allegheny River as 
the owners might select, except on a reservation of one thousand acres at 
the forks of Sinnemahoning Creek, for which General James Totter held a 
pre-emption. 

" The surveyor-general had authority to appoint deputy-surveyors, and to 
fix the number, extent, and boundaries of the districts to which they were to 
be assigned. The territory was divided into eighteen districts, and a deputy- 
surveyor appointed for each. These districts were numbered consecutively. 
beginning with No. 1 on the Allegheny River, and running eastward to No. 
18. which extended to the north branch of the Susquehanna in the northeast 
cottier of the purchase. This arrangement of the districts continued until 
after the year t~oo. when a change was made by the surveyor-general. The 
number of districts was then reduced to six. and were numbered westward 
■•. district Xo. 1. beginning at the mouth of Lycoming Creek. In the new 
arrangement John Adlum was appointed deputy-surveyor for district Xo. 1. 
John Broadhead for Xo. 2, John Canan for Xo. 3, James Hunter for Xo. 4. 
William P. Rrady for Xo. 5. and Enion Williams for Xo. 6, on the Allegheny 
River. In t_~o^ John Adlum, whose surveys were principally along the north- 
ern line of the State, was succeeded by William Ellis, and Enion Williams by 
John Broadhead. After the drawing of the lottery warrants the business of 
the land-office does not appear to have been very pressing. It would seem that 
at the price fixed by the act of December, 1784 — £50 per hundred, or eighty 
cents an acre — purchasers were not numerous. The records show that from 
the time of the drawing and issuing of the lottery warrants in May. t"8;. 
down to the year 1 jga, not more than four hundred warrants were granted 
for these lands, and among these warrants were many to religious and educa- 
te 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

tional institutions issued under various acts of endowment. There were 
thirty-two to Dickinson College, — twenty-eight of three hundred acres each, 
and four of four hundred acres each, making in all seven thousand acres ; the 
Episcopal Academy had thirty-three warrants, — thirty-two of three hundred 
acres each, and one of four hundred acres, making ten thousand acres; the 
Lutheran congregation, of Philadelphia, ten warrants of five hundred acres 
each, making five thousand acres ; the Pittsburg Academy, ten warrants of five 
hundred acres each, making five thousand acres; the Washington Academy, 
ten warrants of five hundred acres each, making five thousand acres ; the 
Reading Academy, seven warrants, — three of one thousand acres each and 
four of five hundred acres each, making five thousand acres; and Franklin 
College thirty-three warrants of three hundred acres each, and one of one 
hundred acres, making ten thousand acres, — making in the aggregate one 
hundred and twelve warrants for fifty-two thousand acres of land. 

" It had now become apparent to the authorities that the price of land 
was too high to induce investments of money in them, and that the General 
Assembly must fix a lower rate to promote sales. Benjamin Franklin, the 
president of the Supreme Executive Council, under date of February 23, 

1787, addressed a letter to that body in which he says, ' We are convinced that 
it will be of advantage to the State to lower the price of land within the late 
Indian purchase ; only eight warrants have been taken out for lands these 
six months passed.' * The Legislature accordingly passed an act, October 3, 

1788, to reduce the price from the rate of £30 per hundred acres to £20. This 
rate was to be charged after March 1, 1789, and was a reduction from the old 
rate of eighty cents an acre to fifty-three and one-third cents an acre. This 
rate continued until April 3, 1792; but, contrary to expectations, did not have 
the effect of increasing sales, and, therefore, brought little or no change in 
the business of the office. By another act, passed April 3, 1792, the price was 
again reduced. The rate fixed by this act was £5, or $13.33/^, for each hun- 
dred acres, and at this rate sales almost astonishing in extent were made, and 
the years 1792-93-94 proved to be noted and important years for disposing of 
unappropriated lands. The low price at which lands could now be bought, 
and the alluring prospect of a large increase in their value, undoubtedly 
induced many large purchasers to enter their applications. The applications 
received at the land-office were for a large number of tracts, and in the course 
of the years named more than five thousand warrants of nine hundred and 
one thousand acres each, covering almost five million acres, were granted for 
lands north and west of the purchase line of 1768, and east of the Allegheny 
River. These were all numbered in consecutive order, as required by the act 
of April, 1785, and were sent to the deputy-surveyors of the six districts to be 
executed. They were issued in the names of a comparatively small number 



* Colonial Records, vol. xv. p. 167. 
65 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

of persons, but the holdings, as a rule, were very large. While it would be 
tedious to give the names of all the holders of these warrants, generally called 
' late purchase warrants,' it may not prove uninteresting to mention a few of 
those whose purchases were more than usually large, if only to show that a 
spirit of speculation may have existed in those days, even as it does at the 
present time. The first to be mentioned will be the warrants issued in the 
names of Wilhelm Willink, Nicholas Van Staphorst, Christian Van Eeghan, 
Pieter Stadnitski, Hendrick Vollenhoven, and Ruter Jan Schimmelpenninck. 
These gentlemen were merchants of the city of Amsterdam, Holland. In the 
land history of Pennsylvania they are known as the ' Holland Land Company,' 
and through agents they invested a large amount of money in land in the 
purchase of 1784. The warrant registers show that in the three years, 1792- 
93-94, they paid for and received eleven hundred and five warrants of nine 
hundred acres each, aggregating nine hundred and ninety-five thousand four 
hundred acres of land lying east of the Allegheny River. These warrants 
were divided among the deputy-surveyors of the six districts. James Wilson 
was another large owner of warrants, the number held by him being five hun- 
dred and ten, of nine hundred acres each, making four hundred and fifty-one 
thousand acres. Herman Le Roy and Jan Lincklean, A. Z., also of Amster- 
dam, three hundred and three warrants of nine hundred acres each, making 
two hundred and seventy-two thousand seven hundred acres. John Nicholson, 
three hundred warrants of one thousand acres each, making three hundred 
thousand acres. Thomas M. Willing, three hundred and eleven warrants of 
one thousand acres each, making three hundred and eleven thousand acres. 
George Meade, three hundred and six warrants of one thousand acres each, 
making three hundred and six thousand acres. Robert Gilmore, two hundred 
warrants of one thousand acres each, making two hundred thousand acres. 
Samuel Wallis, one hundred warrants of one thousand acres each, making one 
hundred thousand acres. William Bingham, one hundred and twenty-five 
warrants of one thousand acres each, making one hundred and twenty-five 
thousand acres. Robert Morris, one hundred and eighty-five warrants, one 
hundred and forty-one of one thousand acres each, and forty-four of five hun- 
dred acres each, making one hundred and sixty-three thousand acres. The 
magnitude of the purchases made by a few individuals is here clearly indi- 
cated. There were, however, other large purchasers, such as Robert Black- 
well, John Olden, Charles Willing, Philip Nicklin and Robert Griffith, James 
Strawbridge, Jeremiah Parker, and others whose names we are obliged to 
omit. The surveys generally were carefully and correctly made, and, consid- 
ering the extent of territory covered by them, and the large interests involved, 
no great amount of litigation from conflicting locations afterwards grew out 
of defective or careless work by the surveyor, as was too often the case with 
surveys made in other sections of the State. In 1817 the price of the lands 
was again changed to twenty-six and two-thirds cents an acre, to correspond 

66 



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5S K;£ In 1 - •■■v.:. < .■ ■ !■ •;,, . ■ 



W "" inn j* 

N_ . . " I ■ ", It 

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5"* MTV £ ^ I '■ I : 

fys " & !5?SBi !T§n it 



HI 




HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

with the price in the older purchases. At the same time warrants were made 
descriptive, and have since been carried in the warrant registers by counties. 
The surveys made on the numbered warrants did not appropriate all the land 
within the limits to which they were restricted, and since then many warrants 
have been granted in all the counties erected from the territory that in 1785 
was made to form a part of the county of Northumberland. 

" LANDS NORTH AND EAST OF THE OHIO AND ALLEGHENY RIVERS AND CONE- 

WANGO CREEK 

" After the surveys of the tracts to be sold for the redemption of depre- 
ciation certificates and the donation lots to be given to the soldiers of the 
Pennsylvania Line had been made, there remained in this part of the purchase 
a large surplus of lands to be otherwise appropriated. The Legislature, on 
the 3d of April, 1792, passed an act for the sale of these lands, entitled 'An 
act for the sale of vacant lands within this Commonwealth.' This act differs 
from all previous laws for disposing of the public lands, by providing that 
they should only be offered for sale to such persons as would ' cultivate, 
improve, and settle the same, or cause the same to be cultivated, improved, 
and settled.' The price fixed was £7 iar. in Pennsylvania currency, for every 
hundred acres, or in other words, twenty cents an acre, and the warrants were 
limited to four hundred acres each. The surveyor-general was authorized to 
divide the territory offered for sale into proper and convenient districts and 
appoint deputy-surveyors, who were to give the customary bond for the faith- 
ful performance of their duties. They were to execute warrants according to 
their priority, but ' not to survey any tract actually settled and improved prior 
to the date of the entry of such warrant with the deputy, except to the owner 
of such settlement and improvement.' The territory was divided into eleven 
districts, and a deputy-surveyor appointed for each ; Thomas Reese for dis- 
trict No. 1, William Powers for No. 2, Benjamin Stokely for No. 3, Thomas 
Stokely for No. 4, John Moore for No. 5, Samuel Nicholson for No. 6, John 
McCool for No. 7, Stephen Gapen for No. 8, Jonathan and Daniel Leet for 
Nos. 9 and 10, John Hoge for No. 11. 

" By Section 8 of the act, on application being made to the deputy- 
surveyor of the proper district by any person who had made an actual settle- 
ment and improvement, that officer, on being paid the legal fees, was required 
to survey the lines of the tract, not exceeding four hundred acres, to which 
such person may have become entitled by virtue of his settlement. Many such 
surveys were returned to the land-office and constituted pre-emptions to per- 
sons for whom they were made. Some of the tracts thus returned still remain 
unpaid, as a glance at the land lien docket of the land-office will show. By 
Section 9, no warrant or survey made in pursuance of the act was to vest 
title to the lands unless the grantee had, ' prior to the date of such warrant 
made, or caused to be made, or should within the space of two vears next after 

69 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

the date of the same, make, or cause to be made, an actual settlement thereon, 
by clearing, fencing, and cultivating at least two acres for every hundred 
acres contained in one survey, erecting thereon a messuage for the habitation 
of man, and residing or causing a family to reside thereon, for the space of 
five years next following his first settling of the same, if he or she shall so 
long live.' In default of such actual settlement and residence the right was 
forfeited, and new warrants, reciting the original warrants and the lack of 
compliance with the requirements of the act, could be granted to other actual 
settlers. It was provided, however, ' that if any actual settler or any grantee 
in any such original or succeeding warrant, shall by force of arms of the 
enemies of the United States, be prevented from making such actual settle- 
ment, or be driven therefrom and shall persist in his endeavors to make such 
actual settlement as aforesaid, then, in either case, he and his heirs shall be 
entitled to have and to hold the said lands in the same manner as if the actual 
settlement had been made and continued.' Under the provisions of this act 
many surveys, as already stated, were returned for actual settlers, and many 
warrants were taken out immediately after its passage. The warrants were 
for four hundred acres each, and immense numbers of them in fictitious names, 
in which great families of Inks, Pirns, etc., appear, were taken out by a few 
individuals. For instance, the Holland Land Company, previously mentioned, 
again appears in the territory west of the Allegheny. That company alone 
took out eleven hundred and sixty-two warrants representing four hundred 
and sixty-four thousand eight hundred acres of land, and making the entire 
purchases of the company from the State amount to more than one million five 
hundred thousand acres. John Nicholson was another purchaser who held a 
large number of these warrants. To the ' Pennsylvania Population Company' 
he assigned one hundred thousand acres lying principally in the present 
County of Erie, and proposed to assign two hundred and fifty thousand acres 
lying along Beaver Creek and the western line of the State to another of his 
land schemes called the ' North American Land Company.' The warrants all 
contained the actual settlement clause, but not any of the large owners of war- 
rants made the slightest pretence of complying with it. Owing to the disturbed 
condition of the western border at the time it was impossible to do so. A state 
of war existed with the western Indians. The United States forces had met 
with serious reverses in the defeat of Harmer and St. Clair in 1791, and it 
was not until after Wayne's treaty, in December, 1795, gave peace and safety 
to the borders that settlers with their families could enter upon those lands 
free from the fear and danger of Indian incursions. 

" But with the settling of the Indian disorders and the return of peace, 
there soon came other troubles, with expensive and vexatious litigation, to 
annoy and harass settlers and warrantees by the uncertainty that was cast 
upon their titles. This uncertainty grew out of differences of opinion in re- 
lation to the construction the two years' clause of the law requiring actual 

70 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

settlement, after the termination of the Indian hostilities that had prevented 
such settlement from being made, should receive. The opposite views held 
by those interested in titles are clearly stated in Sergeant's ' Land Laws,' page 
98 : ' On one side it was contended that the conditions of actual settlement 
and residence, required by the act, was dispensed with, on account of the 
prevention for two years after the date of the warrant * by Indian hostilities ; 
and that the warrant-holder was not bound to do anything further, but was 
entitled to a patent. On the other side it was insisted that the right under 
the warrant was forfeited, at the expiration of two years, without a settlement, 
and that actual settlers might then enter on such tracts and hold them by 
making a settlement. On this and other constructions, numbers of persons 
entered on the lands of warrantees and claimed to hold under the act, as 
settlers, after a forfeiture.' The authorities of the State at the time — 1796 
to 1800 — held to the first opinion, and by the advice of Attorney-General 
Ingersoll, the Board of Property devised what was called a ' prevention 
certificate,' which set forth the fact of the inability of the warrantee or settler 
to make the required settlement. This certificate was to be signed by two 
justices, and on its presentation, properly signed, the land officers freely 
granted a patent for the land described. Under prevention certificates of this 
kind many patents were granted. The Holland Land Company received more 
than one thousand, and John Field, William Crammond, and James Gibson, 
in trust for the use of the Pennsylvania Population Company, more than eight 
hundred. These patents all contained a recital of the prevention certificate, 
as follows : 'And also in consideration of it having been made to appear to 
the Board of Property that the said (name of warrantee) was by force of 
arms of the enemies of the United States prevented from making settlement 
as is required by the ninth section (act of April 3, 1792), and the assignees 
of the said (warrantee) had persisted in their endeavors to make such settle- 
ment,' etc. With a change of administration in October, 1799, there followed 
a change of policy. The new authorities did not regard the policy and pro- 
ceedings of the former Board of Property binding, and the further issuing 
of patents on prevention certificates was refused. In the mean time, the 
contentions between the owners of warrants and settlers were carried into 
the courts, where a like difference of opinion in regard to the rights of the 
contending parties under the act of 1792 soon manifested itself, the judges 
disagreeing as widely in their construction of the ninth section as the parties 
in interest. It was only after years of exciting and troublesome litigation, 
and the enactment of a number of laws by the Legislature of the State to 
facilitate an adjustment of the contentions, that titles became settled and 
owners felt secure in their possessions. It may be said that while the judges 
of the courts often differed in their opinions on the points at issue, the litiga- 



* Nearly all of these warrants were granted in 1792-93. 
7i 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

tion ended generally in favor of the holders of the warrants. The Holland 
Land Company, being composed of foreigners, could appeal to the courts of 
the United States. In one case carried to the Supreme Court, the company 
was actually absolved from making the settlement prescribed by the ninth 
section, Chief Justice Marshall holding that a warrant for a tract of land 
under the Act of 1792 ' to a person who, by force of arms of the enemies of 
the United States, was prevented from settling and improving the said land, 
and from residing thereon from the date of the warrant until the 1st of 
January, 1796, but who, during the said period, persisted in his endeavors to 
make such settlement and residence, vests in such grantee a fee-simple in said 
land.' * That the uncertainty in regard to land titles during these years did 
much to retard the growth and prosperity of this northwestern section of the 
State cannot be doubted ; but, under the influence of better conditions, brought 
about by the adjustment of land rights and the allaying of local strife, it after- 
wards made marvellous strides forward in the march of progress and im- 
provement. 

" The dispositions made of the unsold depreciation and the undrawn 
donation lots in this part of the purchase were fully treated of in former 
papers, and, therefore, need no further notice. It may not, however, be amiss 
to say a word in relation to the purchase of the Erie triangle, an acquisition 
that was of vast importance to Pennsylvania by reason of the outlet of Lake 
Erie. The triangle was claimed by the States of New York and Massachu- 
setts, but was ceded by both States, in the years 1781 and 1785, to the United 
States. The Pennsylvania authorities, anticipating its possession, had, through 
a treaty made at Fort Mcintosh by General St. Clair, Colonel Harmer, and 
others, secured a deed from the Indians by which their claim of title was 
extinguished. This deed, signed by the chiefs of the Six Nations, is dated 
January 9, 1789, and the consideration paid was two thousand dollars. It 
was then, by a deed dated March 3, 1792, ceded by the United States to 
Pennsylvania. This deed is signed by George Washington, President, 
and Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State. In 1790, Andrew Ellicott made 
a survey of the triangle and found it to contain two hundred and two thou- 
sand two hundred and eighty-seven acres, and the purchase-money paid to 
the United States, at the rate of seventy-five cents an acre, amounted to 
$151,640.25. This purchase having been completed before the passage of 
the act of April 3, 1792, the lands within it, except the reservations, were 
sold under the provisions of that act. Before the completion of the purchase, 
John Nicholson had made application for the entire tract, and probably held 
a larger number of warrants for lands within its boundaries than any other 
individual. 

* Smith's Laws, vol. ii. p. 228. 
72 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" THE RESERVATIONS NORTH AND WEST OF THE OHIO AND ALLEGHENY RIVERS 

AND CONEWANGO CREEK 

" In the act of March 12, 1783, setting apart the depreciation lands, two 
reservations for the use of the State were made, — one of ' three thousand 
acres, in an oblong of not less than one mile in depth from the Allegheny and 
Ohio Rivers, and extending up and down the said rivers, from opposite Fort 
Pitt, so far as may be necessary to include the same ;' and the other ' three 
thousand acres on the Ohio, and on both sides of Beaver Creek, including Fort 
Mcintosh.' There was also reserved on Lake Erie for the use of the State 
the peninsula of Presque Isle, a tract extending eight miles along the shores 
of the lake and three miles in breadth, and another tract of two thousand acres 
on the lake at the mouth of Harbor Creek ; and also tracts at the mouth of 
French Creek, at Fort Le Bceuf, and at the mouth of Conewango Creek. For 
the purpose of raising an additional sum by the sale of town lots to be used in 
paying the debts of the State, the President of the Supreme Executive Council 
was authorized by an act passed the nth day of September, 1787, to cause a 
town to be laid out on the reservation opposite Fort Pitt. The tract, except 
three hundred and twelve acres within its boundaries, was accordingly sur- 
veyed into town and out lots and sold at public auction. The regular lots of 
the town, as laid down in the survey, were in dimensions sixty by two hundred 
and forty feet, while the out lots contained from five to ten acres. The part 
containing three hundred and twelve acres, not included in the plan of the 
town, was patented to James O'Hara on the 5th day of May, 1789. This 
town has grown into the large and flourishing city of Allegheny. By another 
act, passed September 28, 1791, the governor was given power to authorize 
the surveyor-general to cause a part of the reservation at the mouth of Beaver 
Creek to be laid out in town lots, ' on or near the ground where the old French 
town stood,' in such manner as commissioners, to be appointed by the governor, 
should direct. By this act two hundred acres were to be surveyed into town 
lots, and one thousand acres, adjoining on the upper side, into out lots to 
contain not less than five acres, nor more than ten acres. Daniel Leet, a 
deputy-surveyor, who had previously surveyed district No. 2, of the depre- 
ciation lands and one of the donation districts, was employed to lay out these 
town and out lots, and his survey of the town and out lots was confirmed by 
an act passed in March, 1793. The same act directed the governor to proceed 
to make sale of the lots and grant conveyances for them, in the manner pre- 
scribed by the act authorizing the laying out of the town. The town was 
called Beavertown, and when the county of Beaver was erected in 1800 was 
made the county seat. The act erecting the county appropriated five hundred 
acres of the reservation for the use of such school or academy as might there- 
after be established in the town. The town then called Beaver was incor- 
porated into a borough in 1802, and the boroughs of Rochester and Bridge- 
water, on opposite sides of the creek, also occupy parts of this reservation. 

73 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" The towns of Erie, Franklin, Waterford, and Warren were established 
by an act passed on the iSth day of April, 1795. Of the large reservation on 
Lake Erie, at Presque Isle, the governor was authorized to appoint two com- 
missioners to survey sixteen hundred acres for town lots and three thousand 
four hundred, adjoining thereto, for out lots, with such streets, alleys, lanes, 
and reservations for public uses as the commissioners should direct. The 
town lots were to contain not more than one-third of an acre,* the out lots not 
more than five acres, the reservations for public uses not to exceed twenty 
acres, and the town was to be called Erie. After the survey of the town, made 
by General William Irvine and Andrew Ellicott, was filed in the office of the 
secretary of the Commonwealth, the governor was directed to sell at public 
auction one-third of the town lots and one-third of the out lots to the highest 
bidders, and grant patents to the purchasers upon the condition that within 
two years they respectively should ' build a house, at least sixteen feet square, 
and containing at least one brick or stone chimney,' on each lot purchased, the 
patent not to be issued until after the expiration of two years, and then only 
on proof that the condition of the sale had been complied with. In addition 
to the surveys of the town and out lots, the act provided that three lots — one 
of sixty acres on the southern side of the harbor, another of thirty on the 
peninsula, and a third of one hundred acres, also on the peninsula, — should 
be surveyed for the ' use of the United States in erecting and maintaining 
forts, magazines, and dock-yards thereon.' Of the tract at the mouth of 
French Creek, three hundred acres for town lots and seven hundred acres 
for out lots were to be surveyed for the town of Franklin; and of the tract 
at the mouth of Conewango Creek, three hundred acres for town lots and 
seven hundred acres for out lots were to be surveyed for the town of Warren. 
At the time the act providing for the laying out of these towns became a law 
a settlement had been made at Fort Le Bceuf. Andrew Ellicott had surveyed 
and laid out a town, and his draft of the town was accepted and confirmed 
by the Legislature. It was provided, however, that in addition to the town 
lots of Ellicott's survey, five hundred acres should be surveyed for out lots, and 
that the town should be called Waterford. The size of the town and out lots 
for Franklin and Warren, the out lots for Waterford, and the provisions for 
streets, lanes, alleys, and reservations for public use, — the reservations reduced 
to ten acres, — were the same as for the town of Erie, as were also the regula- 
tions for the sale of the lots. At Waterford a number of settlers who had 
built houses were given a right of pre-emption to the lots on which they 
settled. A subsequent act passed April ri, t^oo. provided that surveys should 
be made of the reserved tracts adjoining Erie. Franklin. Warren, and Water- 
ford, not laid out in town or out lots, into lots not to exceed one hundred and 



* The regular town lots of Erie as laid down in the map of the town are eig 
two feet six inches front and one hundred and sixty-five feet in depth. 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

fifty acres in each, to be sold by commissioners, one of whom was to reside 
in each town. The tracts were to be graded in quality, and no sale was to 
be made at less than four dollars an acre for land of the first quality, three 
dollars for the second quality, and two dollars for the third quality; and 
purchasers, before title could vest in them, were required within three years 
from the date of their purchases to make an actual settlement on the land ' by 
clearing, fencing, and cultivating at least two acres for every fifty contained 
in one survey, and erect on each lot or tract a messuage for the habitation 
of man and reside thereon for the space of five years following their first 
settlement of the same.' The same act required five hundred acres in each 
of the reserved tracts to be surveyed for the use of schools or academies, and 
provision was made for the appraisement of the residue of the town and out 
lots, and for their sale by the commissioner residing in the town. It was 
also provided in this act that the reserved lot in the town of Erie, at the mouth 
of Cascade Creek, was to be sold at public sale, on consideration of settlement 
and improvement, provided it brought fifty dollars an acre. By an act passed 
February 19, 1800, the clause of the act that required settlement and improve- 
ment of lots was repealed. The other reservation of two thousand acres in 
the Erie triangle, at the mouth of Harbor Creek, was donated by an act of 
the Legislature to General William Irvine to indemnify him for the loss of 
Montour's Island (now called Neville Island), in the Ohio River below the 
city of Pittsburg. General Irvine held the island under a Pennsylvania patent, 
but was divested of his title by a judgment of the Supreme Court of the United 
States in an ejectment suit brought against him by a party who claimed owner- 
ship under a Virginia right, which, under the agreement between Pennsylva- 
nia and Virginia for settling the southwestern boundary dispute, was held by 
the court to be good." 

INDIAN TREATIES AT FORTS STANWIX (ROME, N. Y. ) AND M'lNTOSH 

For a full history of the proceedings of the treaties held at Forts Stanwix 
and Mcintosh, between the commissioners of the Commonwealth of Penn- 
sylvania and the deputies of the Six Nations and the Wyandott and Delaware 
Indians, claiming the unpurchased territory within the acknowledged limits 
of the northwest of Pennsylvania, see McKnight's " Pioneer Historv of Jef- 
ferson County, Pennsylvania." 



^-^ 



CHAPTER V 



TITLES AND SURVEYS PIONEER SURVEYS AND SURVEYORS DISTRICT LINES 

LAWS, REFERENCES, AND REPORTS STREAMS AND HIGHWAY'S DONATION 

LANDS 



" In 1670 Admiral Sir William Perm, an officer in the English navy, 
died. The government owed this officer sixteen hundred pounds, and William 
Penn, Jr., fell heir to this claim. King Charles II. liquidated this debt by 
granting to William Penn, Jr., ' a tract of land in America, lying north of 
Maryland and west of the Delaware River, extending as far west as plantable.' 
King Charles signed this deed March 4, 1671. William Penn, Jr., was then 
proprietor, with power to form a government. Penn named the grant Penn- 
sylvania, in honor of his father. In 1682 Penn published his form of govern- 
ment and laws. After making several treaties and visiting the Indians in the 
interior as far as Conestoga, Penn sailed for England, June 12, 1684, and 
remained away till December 1, 1699. On his return he labored to introduce 
reforms in the provincial government, but failed. He negotiated a new treaty 
of peace with the Susquehanna Indians and also with the Five Nations. In 
the spring of 1701 he made a second journey into the interior, going as far 
as the Susquehanna and Swatara. Business complications having arisen, Penn 
sailed for England in the fall, and arrived there the middle of December, 1701. 
Owing to straitened financial circumstances, he entered into an agreement 
with Queen Anne, in 171 2, to cede to her the province of Pennsylvania and 
the Lower Counties for the sum of twelve thousand pounds sterling; but 
before the legal papers were completed he was stricken with paralysis, and 
died July 30, 1718, aged seventy-four. While Penn accomplished much, he 
also suffered much. He was persecuted for his religion, imprisoned for debt, 
and tried for treason. After his death it was found that, owing to the com- 
plication of his affairs and the peculiar construction of his will, a suit in 
chancery to establish his legal heirship was necessary. Several years elapsed 
before the question was decided, when the Proprietarvship of the province 
descended to John, Richard, and Thomas Penn. John died in 1746 and 
Richard in 1771, when John, Richard's son, and Thomas became sole Pro- 
prietaries. But the Revolution and the Declaration of Independence soon 
caused a radical change in the provincial government. - ' — Meginnis. 

During the Revolution the Penn family were Tories, adherents of Eng- 
land, and on the 27th of November, 1779, the Legislature of Pennsylvania 
confiscated all their property except certain manors, etc.. of which surveys 

"6 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

and returns had been made prior to the 4th of July, 1776. The Penns were 
granted as a compensation for these confiscations one hundred and thirty 
thousand pounds sterling. This ended the rule of the Penns in America. The 
treaty of peace between England and what is now the United States was 
ratified by Congress in January, 1784. All foreign domination or rule in the 
colonies then ceased, but internal troubles with the savages still continued in 
this State in the north and northwest. 

" The Indians were jealous of their rights, and restive under any real or 
fancied encroachments that might be made upon them, and it required the 
exercise of great care, caution, and prudence on the part of the authorities to 
avert trouble on the northern and western boundaries of the State ; and this 
they did not always succeed in doing, as many adventurous spirits, pushing 
far out into the unsettled wilderness, discovered to their sorrow. Fortunately, 
however, by the treaty of October, 1784, with the Six Nations at Fort Stanwix, 
and that of January, 1785, with the Wyandots and Delawares at Fort Mcin- 
tosh, the Indian title was extinguished to all the remaining territory within 
the then acknowledged limits of the State which had been previously pur- 
chased. The boundaries of that great northwestern section of the State cov- 
ered by this purchase may be briefly described as follows: Beginning on the 
east branch of the Susquehanna River where it crosses the northern boundary 
of the State in Bradford County ; thence down the east branch to the mouth of 
Towanda Creek ; thence up Towanda Creek to its head-waters ; thence by a 
straight line west to the head-waters of Pine Creek ; thence down Pine Creek 
to the west branch of the Susquehanna ; thence up the west branch to Cherry 
Tree in Clearfield County ; thence by a straight line to Kittanning, on the 
Allegheny River, in Armstrong County ; thence down the Allegheny River 
to the Ohio River ; thence down the Ohio River to where it crosses the western 
boundary to Lake Erie; and thence east along the northern boundary of the 
State to the beginning. And within this territory at the present day we find 
the counties of Tioga, Potter, McKean, Warren, Crawford, Venango, Forest, 
Clarion, Elk, Jefferson, Cameron, Butler, Lawrence, and Mercer, and parts 
of the counties of Bradford, Clinton, Clearfield, Indiana, Armstrong, Alle- 
gheny, Beaver, and Erie." — Annual Report of Internal Affairs. 

The Indians received for this territory ten thousand dollars in cash. Our 
wilderness was then in Northumberland County. " All land within the late 
(1784) purchase from the Indians, not heretofore assigned to any other par- 
ticular county, shall be taken and deemed to be within the limits of Northum- 
berland County and Westmoreland County. And that from Kittanning up 
the Allegheny to the mouth of Conewango Creek, and from thence up said 
creek to the northern line of this State, shall be the line between Northum- 
berland County."— S>nith's Lazes, vol. ii. p. 325. 

"Under the Proprietary government which ended November 27, 1779. 
land was disposed to whom, on what terms, in such quantities, and such loca- 

77 



uisroKY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

lions .is the proprietor or his agents saw proper, Hie unoccupied lands were 
never put in the market, nor their sale regulated by law. Every effort made 
bj the Assembly to secure uniformity in the sale and price of land was resisted 
in the proprietor as an infringement upon his manorial rights. After the 
Commonwealth became vested with the proprietary interests, a law was passed 
April o, t-St. tor establishing the land-office, tor the purpose of enabling- those 
persons to whom grants had been made to perfect their titles. Jul) i. i~S.j. an 
act was passed opening the land office tor the sale of vacant lands in the 
purchase of 176S. The price was fixed at £lO per one hundred acres, or thirty- 
three and one third cents per acre, in addition to the warrant survey and 
patent tees, and the quantity in eaeh warrant limited to four hundred acres 
and the six per cent, allow anee. The purchase of 1784 having been com- 
pleted and confirmed by the treat) at Fort Mcintosh, January, 1785, the land- 
office was opened for the sale of lauds in the new purchase December 21, iJrSs, 
at which the price was fixed at £30 per one hundred acres, and warrants were 
allowed to contain one thousand acres, with ten per cent, overplus, besides 
the usual allowance." This is the reason why so many old warrants contained 
eleven hundred acres, with six per cent., or sixty acres more. " Nevertheless, 
the • .. the land was plaeed so high that but few speculators ventured to 
invest in the hilly and heavily timbered lauds of Northern Pennsylvania. 
Under the pressure of certain land-jobbers, who were holding- important 
offices ( ) in the Commonwealth, like John Nicholson, Robert Morris, and 
William Bingham, an act was passevl April 3, 179a, in which the priee of 
vacant lauds was reduced to fifty shillings per one hundred acres, or six and 
two thirds cents per acre. Speculation rati wild. Applications for warrants 
red into the office by tens of thousands. The law. while it appeared to 
favor persons of small means, and prevent the wealthy from acquiring large 
portions of the public domain, was so drawn that by means of fictitious 

- and poll deeds- — that is. mere assignments of the application without 
the formalities of acknowledgment — any party could possess himself of an 
unlimited quantity of the unappropriated lauds. Within a year or two nearly 
all the lands in the county (then Northumberland"* had been . or. 

\ chc son, Morris, Bingham, James P. 1 e Roy, Henry Drinker, John 
\ aughan, Pickering, and Hodgdon being the principal holders."- ( s His- 

40, 41. 
" When, in the pursuance of this policy which had Kxnt adopted b> Wil- 
liam Penn, 1 es with and by purchases of the Indians, they finally 
became divested of their original title to all the lands in Pennsylvania : then. 
under what was called ' The 1 ate Purchase, 1 which covered all of this section 
country and included i: V \ land County, in the yew tySs certain 
warrants, called c Lotter\ Warrants,' were -ss-ed bj governmental authority 
to persons who would pa> twenty pounds per hundred acres, authorising th< 
to enter upon the la-.-. 5 j ce s< actions where the\ pleased. This was 

•> 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

done tn some extent, and on those warrants surveys were made; but, as there 
was iKi road by which emigrants could come into the country, no settlements 
could be made except where the sturdy pioneer could push his canoe, ig 
noring, or overcoming all the privations and difficulties incident to a pioneer 
life in such a wilderness." 

PIONEER SURVEYS 

\\ ith a desire to give a complete history of the pioneer surveys of the 
northwest, I addressed a letter to Hon, I. II. Brown, Deputy Secretary of 
Internal Affairs, asking for all the information possessed by the State. I 
herewith submit his reply, — viz.: 

" Department of Internal Affairs. 
" HARRISBURG, Pa., March 7, 1895. 

" Mr. W. J. McKnigiit, Brookville, Pa. 

" Dear Sik, — In answer to your letter of the 5th instant, we beg to say 
that prior to the opening of the land-office in May, 1785, for the sale of lands 
within the purchase of 1784, that part of the purchase lying east of the Alle- 
gheny River and Conewango Creek was divided into eighteen districts, and a 
deputy-surveyor appointed for each. These districts were numbered consecu- 
tively, beginning with No. 1, on the Allegheny River, and running eastward. 
The southern line of district No. 1 began on the old purchase line of 1768 at 
KiUanning, and following that line in successive order were districts Nos. 2, 
3, 4, 5, and 6, the latter terminating at the marked cherry-tree on the hank 
of the west branch of the Susquehanna River at Canoe Place. From that 
point the district line between the sixth and seventh districts, as then con- 
stituted, is supposed to he the line that divides the present counties of Indiana 
and Jefferson from the county of Clearfield as far north as Sandy Lick Creek. 

" An old draft and report, found among the records of this department, 
show that Robert Galbraith, one of the early surveyors of Bedford County, 
ran the purchase line of 1768 from the cherry-tree to Kittanning for the pur- 
pose of marking it and ascertaining also the extent of the several survey 
districts north of the line and between the two points. This draft and accom- 
panying report are without date, but the survey was presumably made during 
the summer of 1786. A reference to the appointment of Mr. Galbraith by the 
surveyor-general to perform this work, and the confirmation of the appoint- 
ment by the Supreme Executive Council on the 8th of April, 178(1, appear 
in the ' Colonial Records,' vol. xv. pp. 3 and 4. In the same volume, p. 85, is 
found the record of an order in favor of Galbraith for forty-five pounds, 
twelve shillings, to be in full for his services in running and marking the line 
and ' laying off the districts of the deputy-surveyors. He says in his report, 
' I began at the marked cherry-tree and measured along the purchase line 
seven miles and forty perches for James Potter's district, thence fifty-four 
perches to the line run by James Johnston for the east line of his district; 
from the post marked for James Potter's district seven miles and forty perches 

79 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

to a post marked for James Johnston's district, thence fifty-two perches to the 
line run by James Hamilton for the east line of his district ; from Johnston's 
post seven miles and forty perches to the post marked for James Hamilton's 
district, thence fifty-two perches to the line run by George Wood, Jr., for the 
east line of his district ; from the post marked for Hamilton's district six 
miles and one hundred and fifty-two perches to the line run by Thomas B. 
McClean for the east line of his district, thence two hundred and eight perches 
to the post marked for George Wood, Jr.'s, district, thence six miles and one 
hundred and fifty perches to the line run by John Buchanan for the east line 
of his district, thence two hundred and ten perches to the post marked for 
Thomas Brown McClean's district, thence two miles and one hundred and 
twcntv perches to the Allegheny River for John Buchanan's district.' 

" With the exception of the first, these districts each extended seven miles 
and forty perches along the purchase line, with the division lines between 
diem running north to the line of New York. Undoubtedly the fourth, fifth, 
and sixth districts, of which James Hamilton. James Johnston, and General 
James Potter were respectively the deputy-surveyors, must have embraced, 
if not all. at least much the larger part of the territory that subsequently 
became the county of Jefferson, while the earliest surveys were made within 
that territory during the summer of 1785 by the surveyors named. It is 
possible, however, that part of the third district, of which George Wood, Jr., 
was the deputy-surveyor, may have been within these limits, and if so, surveys 
were no doubt also made by him. These first surveys were principally made 
and returned on the first warrants granted within the purchase, commonly 
known as the lottery warrants, and many of them in the name of Timothy 
Pickering and Gompany were located on lands that are now within Jefferson 
County. 

" General James Potter died in the year 1789. and was succeeded by his 
son. James Potter, who was appointed in 1790. One of the reasons given for 
the appointment of James Potter, second, was that he had filled the position 
of an assistant to his father, and had done so much of the actual work in the 
field, and was therefore so thoroughly conversant with the lines of surveys 
already run, that he would avoid the interferences another person might fall 
into, thus preventing future trouble arising from conflicting locations. It does 
not appear, however, that the second James Potter ever did any work in the 
district, as the deputies' lists of surveys on file in the land-office show no 
returns from him. 

" Soon after the year 1700 a change was made by the surveyor-general in 
the arrangement of the districts within the purchase of 17S4. by which the 
number was reduced to six. counting west from the mouth of Lycoming Creek 
to the Allegheny River. In this arrangement the two western districts. Nos. 
; and 6. were assigned respectively to William P. Brady and Enion Williams. 
Williams was succeeded in 1704 by John Broadhead. Brady's district is 

80 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

described as ' beginning at a cherry-tree of late General Potter's district, and 
from thence extending by district No. 4 due north to the northern boundary 
of Pennsylvania, thence by the same west fourteen miles, thence south to the 
line of purchase of 1768, late the southern boundary of James Johnston's and 
General Potter's districts, and by the same to the place of beginning.' 

" The sixth district comprised all the territory west of Brady's district 
to the Allegheny River and Conewango Creek. All of the present county of 
Jefferson must have been within these districts. The surveys made and re- 
turned by Brady, Williams, and Broadhead, for the Holland Company, John 
Nicholson, Robert Morris, and other large purchasers of lands, are so numer- 
ous as to practically cover all the lands left unsurveyed by their predecessors 
within that particular section of the State. A small part of the county, in 
the vicinity of Brockwayville, was in Richard Shearer's district, No. 7, east 
of General Potter's line, and a number of lottery warrants was surveyed by 
Shearer in that locality in 1785. That part of the county subsequently fell 
within district No. 4, of which James Hunter was the surveyor, who also 
returned a few surveys. 

" In what manner these pioneer surveyors in the wilderness were 
equipped, and what the outfit for their arduous and difficult labors may have 
been, we do not know and have no means of ascertaining. Doubtless they had 
many severe trials and endured many hardships in preparing the way for 
future settlements and advancing civilization, for which they receive little 
credit or remembrance at this day. Possibly their only equipment was the 
ordinary surveyor's compass and the old link chain of those days, but they 
nevertheless accomplished much work that remains valuable down to the 
present time. For their labor they were paid by fees fixed by law. The law 
of that day also provided a per diem wage of three shillings for chain-carriers, 
to be paid by the purchaser of the land. 

" Very truly yours, 

" Isaac B. Brown, 

" Secretary." 

You will see from the above that in 1785, Richard Shearer, with his 
chain-carriers and his axe-men, traversed what is now Brockwayville and the 
forest east of it ; that James Potter, with his chain-carriers and axe-men, 
traversed the forests near Temples, now Warsaw ; that James Johnston, with 
his chain-carriers and axe-men, traversed the forest where Brookville now is, 
and that James Hamilton, with his chain-carriers and axe-men, traversed the 
forest near or where Corsica now is. Each of these lines ran directlv north 
to the New York line. Where these lines ran was then all in Northumberland 
County. In 1794, James Hunter, with his chain-carriers and axe-men, was 
in what is now Brockwayville region, William P. Brady, with his chain- 
carriers and axe-men, was in what is now the Temple region, and Enion 
6 81 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Williams and John Broadhead, with chain-carriers and axe-men, were between 
where Brookville now is and the Clarion region. 

"By an act of the Legislature, passed April I, 1794, the sale of these 
lands was authorized. The second section of this law provides that all lands 
west of the Allegheny Mountains shall not be more than three pounds ten 
shillings for every hundred acres. 

" Section four provides that the quantity of land granted to one person 
shall not exceed four hundred acres. Section six provides for the survey and 
laying out of these lands by the surveyor-general or his deputies into tracts 
of not more than five hundred acres and not less than two hundred acres, to 
be sold at public auction at such times as the ' Supreme Executive Council 
may direct.' 

" When all claims had been paid, ' in specie or money of the State,' for 
patenting, surveying, etc., a title was granted to the purchaser. In case he 
was not ready or able to make full payment at the time of purchase, by paying 
all the fees appertaining thereto, he was allowed two years to complete the 
payment by paying lawful interest, and when the last payment was made a 
completed title was given. 

" By the act of April 8, 1785, the lands were sold by lottery, in portions 
not to exceed one thousand acres to each applicant. Tickets, commencing 
with number one, were put in a wheel, and the warrants, which were called 
' Lottery Warrants,' issued on the said applications, were severally numbered 
according to the decision of the said lottery, and bore date from the day on 
which the drawing was finished. 

" Section seven of this act allowed persons holding these warrants to 
locate them upon any piece or portion of unappropriated lands. The land 
upon each warrant to be embraced in one tract, if possible. 

" On the 3d of April, 1792, the Legislature passed an act for the sale of 
these lands, which, in some respects, differed from the laws of 1784 and 1785- 
It offers land only to such persons as shall settle on them, and designates the 
kind and duration of settlement. 

" By section two of this act all lands lying north and west of the Ohio 
and Allegheny Rivers and Conewango Creek, except such portions as had 
been or should be appropriated to public or charitable uses, were offered to 
such as would ' cultivate, improve, and settle upon them, or cause it to be 
done, for the price of seven pounds ten shillings for every hundred acres, 
with an allowance of six per centum for roads and highways, to be located, 
surveyed, and secured to such purchasers, in the manner hereinafter men- 
tioned.' 

" Section three provided for the surveying and granting of warrants by 
the surveyor-general for any quantity of land within the said limits, to not 
exceed four hundred acres, to any person who settled upon and improved 
said land. 

82 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" The act provided for the surveying and division of these lands. The 
warrants were, if possible, to contain all in one entire tract, and the form of 
the tract was to be as near, as circumstances would admit, to an oblong, whose 
length should not be greater than twice the breadth thereof. Xo warrants 
were to be issued in pursuance of this act until the purchase-money should 
have been paid to the receiver-general of the land-office. 

" The surveyor-general was obliged to make clear and fair entries of all 
warrants in a book to be provided for the purpose, and any applicant should 
be furnished with a certified copy of any warrant upon the payment of one- 
quarter of a dollar. 

" In this law the rights of the citizen were so well fenced about and so 
equitably defined that risk and hazard came only at his own. But contro- 
versies having arisen concerning this law between the judges of the State 
courts and those of the United States, which the Legislature, for a long time, 
tried in vain to settle, impeded for a time the settlement of the district. These 
controversies were not settled until 1805, by a decision of Chief Justice Mar- 
shall, of the Supreme Court of the United States. 

"At the close of the Revolutionary War several wealthy Hollanders, — 
Wilhelm Willink, Jan Linklaen, and others, — to whom the United States was 
indebted for money loaned in carrying on the war, preferring to invest the 
money in this country, purchased of Robert Morris, the great financier of the 
country at that time, an immense tract of land in the State of New York, and 
at the same time took up by warrant (under the law above cited) large tracts 
in the State of Pennsylvania, east of the Allegheny River. Judge Yeates, on 
one occasion, said, ' The Holland Land Company has paid to the State the 
consideration money of eleven hundred and sixty-two warrants and the sur- 
veying fees on one thousand and forty-eight tracts of land (generally four 
hundred acres each), besides making very considerable expenditures by their 
exertions, honorable to themselves and useful to the community, in order to 
effect settlements. Computing the sums advanced, the lost tracts, by prior 
improvements and interferences, and the quantity of one hundred acres 
granted to each individual for making an actual settlement on their lands, it 
is said that, averaging the whole, between two hundred and thirty and two 
hundred and forty dollars have been expended by the company on each tract' 

"An act was passed by the Legislature, March 31, 1823, authorizing 
Wilhelm Willink, and others of Holland to ' sell and convey any lands belong- 
ing to them in the Commonwealth.' " 

THE DONATION LANDS OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

The soldiers of the Pennsylvania Line who served in the War of the 
Revolution were by act of legislation entitled to the wild lands of the State, 
and a large part of the northwestern portion of the State north of the 
depreciation lands and west of the Alleghenv River was set apart and sur- 

S3" 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

veyed to the officers and soldiers who had served in the Continental army, in 
the Pennsylvania Line. A description of these lands, reference to the legis- 
lation authorizing their survey, and the explorations made in reference to 
their value, will be of interest to all those who are making a study of the 
origin of titles in Pennsylvania. 

As early as the 7th day of March, 1780, while the war of the American 
Revolution was still in active progress, and being vigorously waged by the 
hostile armies in the field, the General Assembly of Pennsylvania by resolution 
made a promise of " certain donations and quantities of land" to the soldiers 
of the State, known as the " Pennsylvania Line," then serving in the Federal 
army. It was provided that these lands should be " surveyed and divided off" 
at the end of the war, and allotted to those entitled to receive them according 
to their several ranks. In order to comply with the letter and intention of 
the resolution of March, 1780, by the same act passed by the General Assem- 
bly March 12, 1783, in which it was provided that certain lands should be 
set apart and sold for the purpose of redeeming the certificates of depreciation 
given to the soldiers of the Pennsylvania Line, under the act of December 18, 
1780, it was also provided that " a certain tract of country, beginning at the 
mouth of Mogulbughtiton Creek ; * thence up the Allegheny River to the 
mouth of Cagnawaga Creek ; f thence due north to the northern boundary of 
the State ; thence west by said boundary, to the northwest corner of the State ; 
thence south, by the western boundary of the State, to the northwest corner 
of lands appropriated by this act for discharging the certificates % herein 
mentioned; and thence by the same lands east to the place of beginning; 
which said tract of country shall be reserved and set apart for the only and 
sole use of fulfilling and carrying into execution the said resolve." 

Under Section VI., of the same act, all rights, titles, or claims to land 
within the described bounds, whether obtained from the Indians, the late Pro- 
prietaries, or any other person or persons, were declared to be null and void, 
thus reserving the entire tract from sale or settlement until after the allot- 
ments of the soldiers were duly made and their claims fully satisfied. By 
Section VII., officers and privates were to be allowed two years after the 
declaration of peace in which to make their applications, and in case of death 
occurring to any one before his application was made, an additional year was 
allowed to the heirs, executors, or administrators of such person, and there- 
after unlocated tracts were to be disposed of upon such terms as the Legis- 
lature might direct. It may be said in passing, however, that the period for 
making applications was a number of times extended by subsequent legisla- 
tion. By the last section of the act, Section VIII., non-commissioned officers 

* Now known as Mahoning Creek, in Armstrong County, 
f Conewago Creek, in Warren County. 
X The depreciation certificates. 



THOS. REES JR. DISTRICT 
, Cession to the i'.S. by A'ew York "in 1781, 

Ulitj Mns.<ni-ltu.-> Its in /;-.".; awl bit tin: C..S. (>, Pa. 
in 17$2; bu Act o/Congrcs& in l?ks 
ildjo Pa. by the Indian^ hi ISWb ' 

_„SJ 



N. Y. 




SMOWIWj LUUA I ION Uh I Mt /~> ff ' 

DONATION LANDS 



jPgXXSYL^yiA 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

and privates were prohibited from Selling their shares of the land appro- 
priated to their use until after the same had been " actually surveyed and laid 
off," the act declaring such sales or conveyances absolutely null and void. In 
this last section of the act a distinction was made between the commissioned 
officers and the non-commissioned officers and privates, probably under an 
impression that the former were able to take better care of their interests than 
the latter. It will be observed that the territory thus set apart under the act 
of December 12, 1783, for donation purposes, comprises parts of the present 
counties of Lawrence, Butler, Armstrong, Venango, Forest, and Warren, all 
of the counties of Mercer and Crawford, and that portion of Erie which lies 
south of the triangle. The territory was then a wild and unbroken wilderness, 
and we can at this day, after a century of progress and civilization, truly 
regard this section of our great Commonwealth, now filled as it is with a 
prosperous and industrious population that has wrought wonders of advance- 
ment and improvement, as a splendid, a princely domain, devoted in our early 
history to a noble purpose. 

As a further reward for the services of the soldiers of the Pennsylvania 
Line, the next act of the General Assembly was one that exempted from 
taxation during lifetime the land which fell to the lot of each, unless the same 
was transferred or assigned to another person, and then follows soon after 
the purchase of 1784, the acts of March 24, 1785, which directed the mode by 
which the allowances of lands were to be distributed to the troops, and pro- 
viding that legal titles, vesting in them the right of ownership, be granted to 
them. The details of the plan of distribution provided in this act are particular 
and comprehensive. The surveyor-general was directed forthwith to appoint 
deputy-surveyors for the purpose of surveying the lots, who were to give 
bonds in the sum of eight hundred dollars each for the faithful performance 
of their duties, and to follow such instructions as they might from time to 
time receive from the surveyor-general and the Supreme Executive Council 
of the State. 

Another section describes the persons who should be entitled to land ; 
and Section V., in order to comply with a previous resolution of the General 
Assembly, included the names of Baron Steuben, who was to receive a grant 
equal to that of a major-general of the Pennsylvania Line, and Lieutenant- 
Colonel Tilghman, a grant equal to that of a lieutenant-colonel of the same 
line ; while by Section VI. other troops, raised under resolutions of February 
and December, 1780, were also declared to be entitled to lands according to 
their rank and pay respectively. Section X. enacted that the lots should be 
of four descriptions : the first to contain five hundred acres each, the second 
three hundred acres each, the third two hundred and fifty acres each, and the 
fourth two hundred acres each, with the allowance of six per cent. ; and 
before proceeding to perform their duties under the act the deputies were 
required to subscribe an oath or affirmation that in making their surveys they 

85 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

would not choose out the best lands for the purpose of favoring any one of 
the four classes to the prejudice or injury of the others, or of the State. This 
section also provides for the proper marking of the lines, the numbering of 
the lots, and the transmission of field notes, drafts, and returns to the sur- 
veyor-general's office. Complete lists of all persons entitled to land under the 
act, with their rank and the quantity of land to be allotted to each, were to be 
furnished by the comptroller-general to the Supreme Executive Council in 
order that proper instructions, through the surveyor-general, might be given 
to surveyors in the field as to the number of lots to be surveyed and the 
quantities in which they were to be laid off ; and when a sufficient number of 
lots were surveyed and returned, a draft of the whole was to be made and 
deposited in the rolls-office as a public record to serve in lieu of recording the 
patents. The wisdom of the last provision may be considered extremely 
doubtful, as has since been demonstrated in the fact that there are many 
patents for donation lands in existence of which the patent books of the 
land-office do not contain a line, and no little trouble in tracing title to certain 
of these tracts has been experienced in consequence of that defect in the act. 
The patent books should have contained the enrolment of all. Section VIII. 
provides minute directions for the distribution of the lots to claimants by 
lottery. Tickets representing the four classes, carefully numbered and tied 
" with silken thread," were to be placed in four wheels " like unto lottery 
wheels," from which the applicants were required to draw for their respective 
allotments. When not in use for drawing, the wheels were to be sealed and 
kept in the custody of a committee of the members of the Supreme Executive 
Council, the same committee having the right to judge and determine the 
right of every applicant to receive a grant, allowing in cases of doubt or 
difficulty an appeal to the council, whose decision was to be final. By this 
section of the act it was further provided that a major-general should draw 
four tickets from the wheel containing the numbers on the five hundred acre 
lots ; a brigadier-general, three tickets from the same wheel ; a colonel, two 
tickets from the same wheel; a lieutenant-colonel, one ticket from the same 
wheel and one from the wheel containing the numbers on the three hundred 
acre lots; a surgeon, chaplain, or major, two tickets from the wheel containing 
the numbers on the three hundred acre lots ; a captain, one ticket from the 
wheel containing the numbers on the five hundred acre lots ; a lieutenant, two 
tickets from the wheel containing the numbers on the two hundred acre lots ; 
an ensign or regimental surgeon's mate, one ticket from the wheel containing 
the numbers on the three hundred acre lots; a sergeant, sergeant-major, or 
quartermaster-sergeant, one ticket from the wheel containing the numbers on 
the two hundred and fifty acre lots, and a drum-major, fife-major, drummer, 
fifer, corporal, or private, one ticket from the wheel containing the numbers 
on the two hundred acre lots. It will be seen that the allotment according to 
rank was therefore as follows: To a major-general, two thousand acres; a 

86 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

brigadier-general, fifteen hundred acres ; a colonel, one thousand acres ; a 
lieutenant-colonel, eight hundred acres; a surgeon, chaplain, or major, six 
hundred acres ; a captain, five hundred acres ; a lieutenant, four hundred 
acres; an ensign or regimental surgeon's mate, three hundred acres; a 
sergeant, sergeant-major, or quartermaster-sergeant, two hundred and fifty 
acres; and a drum-major, fife-major, drummer or fifer, or private, two 
hundred acres. Another section provides for the issuing of patents, to 
be signed, sealed, and delivered by the president or vice-president of the 
Supreme Executive Council and prescribing a form for the same, the con- 
sideration being " services rendered by , in the late army of the United 

States." The only expense to which applicants were to be subjected was the 
fee for " surveying, drafting, and returning," including the cost of chain- 
bearers, markers, etc. The sum fixed was three pounds for a lot of five 
hundred acres, two pounds for a lot of three hundred acres, and one pound 
ten shillings for lots of two hundred and fifty and two hundred acres, to be paid 
by each applicant before he could be permitted to draw for his lot. There were 
other provisions of the act for the purpose of fully carrying into effect the in- 
tentions of the General Assembly in making the grant, especially in Sections 
XX. and XXL, which provided for the employment of an agent for the pur- 
pose of exploration to ascertain and note the quality of the land and the topo- 
graphic features of the country. This agent was particularly to note such 
parts of land as he might deem unfit for cultivation. 

Three days before the act of March 25, 1785, became a law a committee 
chosen by the officers of the Pennsylvania Line, who were no doubt acquainted 
with the provisions of the proposed law, and concerned for their own interests, 
united in a letter to the Supreme Executive Council, recommending the 
appointment of General William Irvine, the commanding officer at Fort Pitt, 
as agent to explore the lands. After calling attention to the provisions in the 
proposed law for the employment of such agent, they say, " We therefore 
pray that Council will be pleased to appoint William Irvine, Esq., to that 
office, if the bill passes in its present state, as he is a gentleman well acquainted 
with the land appropriated for that purpose, and who is, we humbly conceive, 
worthy your confidence, as well as that of your most humble servants." 
(Pennsylvania Archives, vol. x. p. 425.) The Supreme Executive Council 
acted so promptly upon the recommendation of the committee of officers, that 
two days after the bill became a law, General Irvine was appointed agent, and 
having on the same day, March 26, 1785, subscribed his oath of office, an 
order for ninety pounds was issued in his favor as part of his pay. On the 
same day he received his instructions, which appear in Volume X., page 427, 
Pennsylvania Archives. They read as follows: 

In Council, March 26, 1785. 

" Sir : By virtue of the authority vested in us by the act of assembly for 
directing the Mode of distributing the Donation Lands, promised to the 

87 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

troops of this Commonwealth. We have appointed you Agent to perform the 
duties of this office, it will be necessary that with all possible Dispatch & 
accuracy, you explore the country to be laid off agreeably to Directions of 
that Act, noting the quality of the land in the several parts thereof, the hills, 
mountains, waters, creeks, marshes, uplands, bottom lands, &c, and such 
other occurrences as may deserve notice with their situation, & distance, but 
particularly the parts of the land which you may deem unfit for cultivation, 
&c. ; and from time to time transmitting us your remarks, notes, and descrip- 
tion of the Country." 

This letter is signed by John Dickinson, and addressed to " The Honor- 
able General William Irvine." General Irvine appears to have entered upon 
his duties of exploration, under the instructions given him, with little delay, 
and to have exercised good judgment, assiduity, and perseverance in pur- 
suing them. A report of his notes and observations was transmitted to 
President Dickinson, in a letter dated at Carlisle, August 17, 1785. These 
papers are replete with interest and are here reproduced as they appear in 
Volume XL, pages 513 to 520, Pennsylvania Archives. 

" Carlisle, August 17, 1785. 
" To His Excellency, John Dickinson, Esq. 

"Sir: You have herewith transmitted my description of the donation 
tract of country, together with a sketch. These will, I hope, prove satisfac- 
tory to your Excellency and the honorable the council, and answer the public 
purposes for which they are designed. 

" I observed in a former letter that few of the deputy-surveyors attended 
on my first going into the country, these agreed to postpone the business till 
September. On my return to Fort Pitt, after my tour, so late as July I found 
three of the gentlemen preparing to set out to survey. I did not consider it 
my duty to attend so small a number of them, as it would be spending the 
public money and my own time to little purpose, besides the law gives me no 
other control over them than to report to the Surveyor-General should they 
neglect or delay performing their duty. And I find sundry of them conceive 
they have not only a right, but are in some measure obliged to survey the land, 
good or bad, as each of them are instructed to survey a certain number of lots, 
for instance, two hundred and sixty of different descriptions and sizes, with- 
out any regard to water, bottom, upland, or any of the usual modes observed 
in laying of land. ' Several of the districts has not twenty lots of good land 
in them, yet the deputies are each instructed to survey upwards of two hun- 
dred and sixty, when, others contain perhaps double the quantity directed.' 

" Unless the Surveyor-General alters his instruction materially, or coun- 
cil, or the Assembly, take order in the premises, the whole end designed will 
be defeated as no man of common understanding will accept of pay for survey- 
ing such land. 

88 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" I am of opinion there is more than sufficient of good land on the tract 
appropriated to answer the purpose, provided the western boundary line of the 
State strikes the west branch of Beaver Creek as high as is generally supposed. 
Mr. McLane is of opinion it will cross at least sixteen miles higher than 
where his line does. In this case I propose this alteration for the consideration 
of council, that the deputies be instructed to begin at the west line of the State 
and survey all the land on the several branches of Beaver within the tract, 
before any other is laid off, if this should not prove sufficient, then proceed 
to the forks and upper branches of Tunck and Oil Creeks for the remainder. 
This mode will, I conceive, be better for the troops as their settlement, or 
vicinity to others will be more compact, consequently the land more valuable 
and it will certainly be more advantageous to the State, as whatever lands 
of value may be along the river and upper end of the tract will be reserved 
unculled, to dispose of as may be judged most expedient; and notwithstand- 
ing the spots of good land are detached, yet some of them are of such excellent 
quality, and so well situated on account of water carriage, easy communication 
with Lake Erie, and so well calculated for stock-farms, that the State may be 
much benefited by reserving them for future disposal. 

" This mode will occasion an alteration, perhaps, with respect to the 
number of deputies, as fewer than the present number appointed would 
execute this mode best, and four or five would doubtless perform the business, 
provided they are allowed to employ assistants ; these four or five might have 
constant communication with each other, and act as it were superintendents 
over the assistants, by which they could determine when the number of lots 
of each class required is done. I know it may be urged, in opposition to this, 
that sundry of these gentlemen have already gone to considerable expense 
in equipping themselves for the business and that it will be hard to dismiss 
them under these circumstances. To this I answer that the private advantage 
of two or three men ought not to be put in competition with that of as many 
thousands, particularly where the interest of the State at large is concerned 
also. I farther answer that these men may be employed by the principals, and 
will venture to assert that some of them are scarce fit even for this subordinate 
station, as perhaps the first chain or compass they ever saw was purchased 
for this occasion. The number, however, that I have proposed may be found 
among the gentlemen who understand both theory and practice extremely 
well, and are men of approved integrity, and I believe the State will find their 
account in this or some such mode, if they even pay the trifling expense the 
gentlemen have been at. 

" I have the honor to be, 

" With the greatest respect, 

" Sir, Your Excellency's most 

" Obedient humble servant, 

" Wm. Irvine." 
89 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" Notes taken and observations made (by) the Agents appointed to ex- 
plore the tract of country presented by the State to the late troops of the Penn- 
sylvania Line, of the American Army. 

" In exploring the donation land, I began on the Line run by Mr. Mc- 
Lane, between that and the tracts appropriated for redeeming depreciation 
certificates which he ascertained by a due North Line to be near thirty miles 
from Fort Pitt, and by the Common computation along the path leading from 
Fort Pitt to Venango on the mouth of French Creek, which some affirm was 
actually measured by the French when they possessed that country. I found 
it forty miles ; East of this path along Mr. McLane's Line for five or six miles, 
the land is pretty level, well watered with small springs, and of tolerable 
quality, but from thence to the Allegheny River which is about Twenty-five 
miles due East, there is no land worth mentioning fit for cultivation ; as far 
as French Creek all between the Venango Path and the Allegheny there is 
very little land fit for cultivation, as it is a continued chain of high barren 
mountains except small breaches for Creeks and Rivulets to desembogue 
themselves into the River. These have very small bottoms. 

" As I proceeded along the path leading to French Creek about five miles 
to a Branch of Beaver or rather in this place called Canaghqunese I found the 
land of a mixed quality, some very strong and broken with large quantities 
of fallen Chestnut, interspersed with strips covered with Hickory, lofty oak, 
and for under wood or Brush, Dogwood, Hazel, &c. ; along the Creek very 
fine rich and extensive bottoms in general fit for meadows ; from hence to 
another branch of said Creek called Flat Rock Creek, about ten miles distant, 
the land is generally thin, stony and broken, loaded, however, with Chestnut 
Timber, the greatest part of which lies flat on the earth, which renders it 
difficult travelling — at the usual crossing place on the last named Creek, there 
is a beautiful fall over a Rock ten or twelve feet high at the fording imme- 
diately above the fall, the bottom is one entire Rock, except some small per- 
forations which is capacious enough to receive a horse's foot and leg — it is 
here about forty yards wide and runs extremely rapid. From Flat Rock to 
Sandy Creek by Hutchins & Scull called, Lycomie, is about Twenty-four 
miles ; on the first twelve there are a considerable quantity of tolerable level 
land tho much broken with large stony flats, on which grows heavy burthens 
of Oak, Beech, and Maple, particularly seven or eight miles from the Creek 
there is a plain or savannah three or four miles long, and at least two wide, 
without any thing to obstruct the prospect, except here and there a small 
grove of lofty Oaks, or Sugar Tree, on the skirts the ground rises gradually 
to a moderate heighth from which many fine springs descend, which water 
this fine Tract abundantly — along these Rivulets small but fine spots of 
meadow may be made, from hence the remaining twelve miles to Sandy Creek 
is a ridge or mountain, which divides the waters of the Allegheny, the Beaver, 
and Ohio, and is from East to West at least three times as long as it is broad 

go 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

— on the whole of this there is little fit for cultivation, yet some of it is well 
calculated for raising stock. But a person must be possessed of very large 
Tracts to enable him to do even this to purpose. 

" From Sandy to French Creek is about seven or eight miles from the 
mouth, but it soon Forks into many small runs, and is but a few miles from 
the mouth to the source — there are two or three small bottoms only on this 
Creek — to French Creek is one entire hill, no part of which is by any means 
fit for cultivation. 

" On the lower side, at the mouth of French Creek, where the Fort called 
Venango formerly stood, there is three or four hundred acres of what is 
commonly called upland or dry bottom, very good land. On the North East 
side, about one mile from the mouth, another good bottom begins of four or 
five hundred acres, and on the summits of the hills on the same side tho high, 
there is a few hundred acres of land fit for cultivation — this is all in this 
neighborhood nearer than the first fork of the Creek; which is about eight 
miles distant. On the Road leading from French to Oil Creek, within about 
three miles and a half of Venango, there is a bottom of fine land on the Bank 
of the Allegheny, containing four or five hundred acres, there is little beside 
to Oil Creek fit for cultivation. 

" French Creek is one hundred and fifty yards wide. 

" From French to Oil Creek is about eight miles — this is not laid down 
in any map, notwithstanding it is a large stream not less than eighty, 
or perhaps a hundred yards wide at the mouth, a considerable depth, both of 
which it retains to the first fork, which is at least twenty miles up, and I am 
certain is as capable of rafting timber or navigating large boats on as French 
Creek in the same seasons this high. On the North East or upper side of 
this creek, at the mouth, is four or five hundred acres of good bottom, and 
about a mile up there is another small bottom on the South West side, which 
is all the good land to the first fork. 

" Oil Creek has taken its name from an oil or bituminous matter being 
found floating on the surface. Many cures are attributed to this oil by the 
natives, and lately by some whites, particularly Rheumatic pains and old 
ulcers ; it has hitherto been taken for granted that the water of the Creek was 
impregnated with it, as it was found in so many places, but I have found this to 
be an error, as I examined it carefully and found it issuing out of two places 
only — these two are about four hundred yards distant from (each) other, and 
on opposite sides of the Creek. It rises in the bed of the Creek at very low 
water, in a dry season I am told it is found without any mixture of water, and 
is pure oil ; it rises, when the creek is high, from the bottom in small globules, 
when these reach the surface they break and expand to a surprizing extent, 
and the flake varies in color as it expands ; at first it appears yellow and 
purple only, but as the rays of the sun reach it in more directions, the colors 
appear to multiply into a greater number than can at once be comprehended. 

9i 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" From Oil Creek to Cuskakushing, an old Indian Town, is about seven- 
teen miles — the whole of this way is barren, high mountains, not fit for culti- 
vation ; the mountain presses so close on the River that it is almost impassable, 
and by no means practicable when the River is high, then travellers either 
on foot or horseback are obliged to ascend the mountain and proceed along 
the summit. 

'* At Cuskushing there is a narrow bottom about two miles long, good 
land and a very fine Island fifty or sixty acres, where the Indians formerly 
planted corn. From Cuskushing to another old Indian Town, also on the 
Bank of the River, is about six miles ; this place is called Canenacai or Hick- 
ory Bottom ; here is a few hundred acres of good land and some small Islands, 
from hence to a place named by the natives the Burying Ground, from a 
tradition they have that some extraordinarv man was burried there many hun- 
dred years ago, is about thirteen miles ; most of this way is also a barren and 
very high mountain, and you have to travel greatest part of the way in the 
Bed of the River. To Brokenstraw Creek, or Bockaloons, from the last 
named place is about fourteen miles, here the hills are not so high or barren, 
and there are sundry good bottoms along the River. About half way there 
is a hill called by the Indians Paint Hill, where they find very good red oker. 
Brokenstraw is thirty yards wide, there is a fine situation and good bottom 
near the mouth on both sides, but a little way up the creek large hills covered 
with pine make their appearance. From Brokenstraw to Canewago is eight 
or nine miles — here is a narrow bottom, interspersed with good dry land, and 
meadow ground all the way, and there is a remarkable fine tract at the mouth 
of Conewago, of a thousand or perhaps more acres, from the whole of which 
you command a view up and down the main branch of Allegheny, and also 
up Conewago a considerable distance. Conew r ago is one hundred and fifty 
yards wide, and is navigable for large boats up to the head of Jadaque Lake, 
which is upwards of fifty mile from its junction with the east branch of the 
River. The head of Jadaque Lake is said to be only twelve miles from Lake 
Erie, where it is also said the French formerly had a Fort, and a good Waggon 
Road from it to the Lake. Conewago forks about thirty miles from the 
mouth of the East Branch, is lost in a morass where the Indians frequently 
carried their canoes across into a large creek called the Cateraque, which 
empties into the Lake forty or fifty miles above Niagara. 

" This account of the branches of Conewago I hade from my guide, an 
Indian Chief of the Senecas, a native of the place, and an intelligent white 
man, who traversed all this country repeatedly. I have every reason to believe 
the facts are so — tho I do not know them actually to be so as I went only a 
small distance up this creek, being informed there is no land fit for cultivation 
to the first fork or to the lower end of Jadaque Lake, which begins seven 
miles up the West Branch, except what has already been mentioned at the 
mouth of the creek, the appearance of the country, in a view taken from the 

92 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

summit of one of the high hills, fully justified this report, as nothing can be 
seen but one large chain of mountains towering above another — here, perhaps, 
it may not be amiss to insert the supposed distances in a collected view — and 

first from Fort Pitt to McLane's 40 

To fourth branch of Canaghqunese 5 

Rocky, or Flat Rock Creek 10 

Sandy Creek 24 

French Creek 8 

Oil Creek 6 

Cuskacushing 17 

Cananacai 6 

The Burying Ground 13 

Brokenstraw 14 

Conewagoo 9 

152 
Deduct from Fort Pitt to Mc'Lenes line between the depre- 
ciation and donation tracts 40 

Leaves the donation land to be 112 Miles long. 

" For the same reason that I did not proceed far up Conawago, I re- 
turned the most direct Road to the burying ground — here three old Indian 
paths take off, one to Cayahaga, on Lake Erie, one to Cuskusky, on the West 
branch of Beaver Creek, and the third to a Salt Spring, higher up the same 
branch of Beaver — from hence I crossed the chain of mountains, which runs 
along the River, and in traveling what I computed to be about twenty five 
miles, reached the first fork on Oil Creek, on the most easterly Branches 
there are vast quantities of White Pine, fit for masts, Boards, &c. In this 
fork is a large Body of tolerable good land, tho high, and along the West 
Branch very rich and extensive Bottoms fit for meadow, of the first quality — 
this continues about fifteen miles along the creek, which is a beautiful stream, 
from thirty to forty yards wide, and pretty deep. From the West Branch of 
Oil Creek I proceeded on a Westerly course, about ten miles along a ridge 
which is difficult to ascend, being high and steep, but when you get up it is 
flat on the summit, four or five miles broad, very level, and fine springs issue 
from the declivity on both sides, the land heavily loaded with Hickory, large 
Oak, Maple, and very large Chestnut. From the West end of this ridge 
several large springs rise, which form the most easterly branch of French 
Creek — there are five branches of this creek, which is called Sugar Creek, by 
Mr. Hutchins, all of which have fine Bottoms, excellent for meadow and 
pasturage, but the upland or ridges between are stony, cold, moist and broken, 
chiefly covered with Beech, Pine and scrubby Chestnut. 

93 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" At the fork or junction of Sugar Creek with the main or West Branch 
of French Creek (which is only eight miles up from Venango), there is some 
fine plains or savannahs, and a large quantity of meadow ground — there are 
but few bottoms, and little or no upland besides what is above mentioned, for 
twenty miles up this branch, where there is a considerable quantity of excellent 
meadow ground, beside which there is not much good land until you reach 
Le Berroff (Boeuf's). 

" From Venango, I returned along the path leading to Pittsburg to within 
about seven miles of Flat Rock Creek, here I took a West course along a large 
dividing ridge already noticed, about ten miles, where I struck a branch of 
Canaghquenese or Beaver, about thirty yards wide, and which joins Flat 
Rock before it empties into the main branch of Canaghquenese — on this creek 
is very fine and larger bottoms, and in some places some good upland, tho' 
much broken with high, barren hills and some deep morasses. This creek 
is not laid down in any map that I have seen. After having explored this 
creek and lands adjacent, I proceeded on a South course till I struck Mr. 
McLene's line within eight miles of the great Beaver Creek, which I followed 
to the Creek ; all this distance is very hilly, there are some small bottoms, but 
the major part of those eight miles is not fit for cultivation. 

" From where Mr. McLane's line strikes the great or West Branch of the 
Beaver, I continued exploring the country up the several western branches of 
tlie Beaver, Viz, the most Westerly, and two branches denominated the She- 
nango. The distance from the above named line to an old Moravian Town is 
three or four miles, from thence to Shenango, two and a half or three miles ; 
thence to a fork or second branch, two miles; from the mouth of Shenango 
to Cuskuskey, on the West branch, is six or seven miles, but it was formerly 
all called Cuszuskey by the natives along this branch as high as the Salt spring, 
which is twenty-five miles from the mouth of Shenango. There is such a 
similarity in almost all the lands on all the branches of Beaver Creek, that a 
particular description of each would be mere (repetition). I shall therefore 
only briefly observe that the bottoms generally are the most excellent that can 
be well imagined, and are very extensive — the upland is hilly, and some bad, 
but most of the hills are fertile and very rich soil — from the falls of the Great 
Beaver up to the head of the West Branch, and twenty miles up the Shenango 
branch, is to a considerable distance on either side those creeks there is little 
land but may be cultivated, and I believe no country is better watered. 

" I herewith transmit a sketch of that part of the country only which my 
duty as agent obliged me to explore. This, together with the remarks herein 
contained will, I flatter myself give a juster idea of the tract than any map yet 
published. Tho' I do not pretend to say it is correct, as the distances are all 
supposed, and there are probably several omissions in this sketch, yet more 
creeks, hills, &c. are noticed than have been before and their real courses and 
near connections & division by Hills & Ridges ascertained. 

94 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" No Creek is laid down or branch which is not upwards of Twenty yards 
wide — smaller runs are not noticed — on the whole I have endeavored as well 
in the remarks as in the sketch,* so far as I have gone, to answer the end for 
which 1 was appointed Agent, as well as in my power. 

" Wsi. Irvine, 

" Agent. 

" N. B. The dotted lines show the several courses taken in exploring the 
country on the sketch — besides the several offsets were made to gain summits 
of hills for the benefit of prospects. All the Branches of Canaghquenese, 
which are six or seven in number, join and form one large Creek before it 
enters the Beaver, the junction is about eleven miles above the mouth of 
Beaver from above the falls and four below McLene's line. I have been 
unavoidably obliged to leave the North and West lines open in the sketch, as 
I could not do otherw-ise till these boundary lines are run ; this also prevented 
my compleating the business, not being able to determine perhaps within 
several miles, where the line may run. I am persuaded the State of Penn- 
sylvania might reap great advantages by paying early attention to the very 
easy several communications with Lake Erie from the western parts of their 
country, particularly Conewago ; French Creek and the West Branch of 
Beaver, from a place called Mahoning to where it is navigable for small craft 
is but thirty miles to Cayahuga River, which empties into the lake. A good 
waggon road may be made from Fort Pitt to the mouth of French Creek, & 
all the way from the mouth of Beaver to Cayuhuga, which is not more than 
80 miles. The breadth of the tract cannot be ascertained till the Western 
Boundary is run. Mr. McLene suspends for this reason extending his line 
further West than the Great Beaver, which he has found to be 47 miles from 
the mouth, Mogwolbughtitum, from this part of Beaver Creek it is conjected 
the West line of the State will run 10 or 12 miles." 

In the mean time the authorities of the State were busy in perfecting the 
machinery necessary for carrying into effect the scheme for the allotment 
and distribution of the lands to those persons entitled to receive them. On 
the 3d of May, 1785, John Lukens, the surveyor-general, is informed that by 
the report of the comptroller-general the number of lots to be surveyed and 
the quantity of land that each should contain would be " one hundred and 
seventy-seven lots of the first description, each containing five hundred acres ; 
eighty-eight of the second description, each containing three hundred acres ; 
one hundred and eighty-six of the third description, each containing two 
hundred and fifty acres, and two thousand one hundred and nineteen of the 
fourth description, each containing two hundred acres," making two thousand 
five hundred and seventy lots of the various descriptions, and containing in the 



* This sketch has not been found. 
95 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

aggregate five hundred and eighty-five thousand two hundred acres of land. 
On the second of the same month the surveyor-general informed Council that 
he had nominated the following persons to Council " for their approbation, to 
be appointed deputy-surveyors of the donation lands west of the Allegheny 
River, — viz.: Major William Alexander, Benjamin Lodge, Captain James 
Christie, Ephraim Douglass, Griffith Evans, James Dickinson, John Hender- 
son, William Power, Junior, Peter Light, Andrew Henderson, James Dickin- 
son, James Hoge, David Watt, of Sherman's Valley, Alexander McDowell." 
The territory in which the donation surveys were to be made was divided 
into ten districts by the surveyor-general, after consultation with General 
Irvine, soon after the latter gentleman had received the appointment of agent. 
The districts were numbered in regular order to the north from the north 
line of the depreciation lands, — District No. i, adjoining that line, and Dis- 
trict No. 10, covering parts of the present counties of Erie and Warren. From 
a letter of the surveyor-general to Secretary Armstrong, dated May 14, 1785, 
in relation to the districts, there seems to have been some slight friction 
between the authorities in naming the deputy-surveyors. According to Mr. 
Lukens, the surveyors were named by him and General Irvine, " four of 
whom were officers of the Pennsylvania Line, and were recommended by 
their superior officers and were Practical Surveyors in the back counties, to 
which we added six more as per List sent to Council ye 5th inst." He then 
says, " At which Mr. Watts coming in, desired me to enter his son's name, 
which I did, and have also sent in the names of James Hoge & Peter Light, 
since for fear some of the first ten should disappoint us ; four of the first ten 
are Commissioned & the others sent for — now why the eleventh should be 
pushed before we hear some thing from the others, I should be glad to be 
informed, unless Council have some objection to some of the first." The 
trouble, whatever it may have been, soon disappeared, and the ten surveyors 
appointed were William Alexander, for the first district; John Henderson, 
for the second district ; Griffith Evans, for the third district ; Andrew Hen- 
derson, for the fourth district; Benjamin Lodge, for the fifth district; James 
Christy, for the sixth district ; William Power, for the seventh district ; 
Alexander McDowell, for the eighth district; James Dickinson, for the ninth 
district ; and David Watts, for the tenth district. With a single exception 
the persons named must have entered upon the performance of their duties 
very promptly and pursued them with commendable energy. Considering 
the character of the country in which their work was to be done, its wild and 
unsettled condition, and the difficulties to be encountered and overcome, the 
task before them was by no means an easy one. Except a few white traders 
along the Allegheny River, they would meet only Indians, and with their 
presence in those days there would always be an apprehension of lurking 
danger. The surveys of nine districts were, however, made with little or no 
difficulty so far as the records show, and were returned to the land-office early 

96 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

in the year 1786, one district really on the 28th of December, 1785. There 
was an equal allotment of the number of tracts of each description to be sur- 
veyed to the ten districts, — twenty tracts of five hundred acres each, ten of 
three hundred each, twenty-one of two hundred and fifty acres each, and two 
hundred and seventeen of two hundred acres each to each district. The first 
district, William Alexander, surveyor, was returned in February, 1786; the 
second, John Henderson, surveyor, February 6, 1786; the third, Griffth 
Evans, surveyor, December 28, 1785 ; the fourth, Andrew Henderson, sur- 
veyor, January 12, 1786; the fifth, Benjamin Lodge, surveyor, February 7, 
1786; the sixth, James Christy, surveyor, March 18, 1786; the seventh, 
William Power, surveyor, March 13, 1786; the eighth, Alexander McDowell, 
surveyor, February 15, 1786, and the tenth, David Watts, surveyor, February 
12, 1786. The ninth district is omitted from the above statement. The sur- 
veyor of that district, James Dickinson, does not appear to have reached the 
locality assigned to him until after the others had completed their work. He 
started some time in the fall of 1785 to make his surveys, and reached Ve- 
nango, at which point it seems he was deterred from proceeding any further 
by fear of trouble with the Indians. After a consultation with several Indian 
chiefs, he determined to return home without making any surveys in the 
district. His explanation of this default on his part is found in a letter to the 
surveyor-general, dated " Pits Burg, 24th January, 1786," ( ?) in which he 
gives a statement of his interview with the Indians, his address to them, and 
the answer of the Chief Whole Face. The letter of explanation and inter- 
view appear in Volume X., pages 740 and 741, Pennsylvania Archives, and 
reads as follows : 

" James Dickinson, to John Lukens : 

" Dear Sir, — Agreeably to Commission and Instructions for Surveying 
Donation Lands No. 9, District I proceeded on my Errand as far as Venango ; 
but not without hearing on my way a very great uneasiness among the Indians 
at the procedure of the State in the Purchase of those lands, whereupon I 
thought it necessary to stop there a few Days & consult some Indians Chief 
on the subject before I proceeded further where after w f ith the advice of the 
Pittsburg Traders There, I sent for by a Runner Whole Face, The Corn 
Planter, & Long Hair, three Senica Chiefs who were then out a hunting, two 
Days March from Venango. Whole Face & Long Hair came in & the Corn 
Planter refused, — At their coming in by an interpreter Elijah Matthews I in- 
formed them my Errand, they returned for answer, they could not then give 
me an answer to my Proposal but would in a few Days ; I waited on them 4 
& then they gave me a Hearing, which was as follows Verbatim. — At Mr. 
Thomas Wilkey's store at Venango, Present Mr. Thomas Wilkey, Captain 
Jacob Springer & Elijah Matthews. — Indians, The Chiefs Whole Face & Long 
Hair, with seven others. — 

7 97 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" My Friend Mr. Whole Face, 

" I was sent here by the great Council of the State of Pennsylvania held 
at Philadelphia, to Measure some Lands a little to the Northward of this 
Place, which Land I am told the great Council had bought of our Brothers 
the Indians, whose sole Property they understood it to be — But on my way 
Here I was told the Indians were not well Pleased we should measure those 
Lands. I thought it therefore best to stop with you a few Days in Order to 
know what your uneasiness was if in my Power to remove any obsticle in the 
Way; being fully assured the Great Council of the State would do every 
Thing on their side to keep alive Friendship, To maintain Peace, To Increase 
Friendship. To support a Union & to make Trade Flourish between their 
Brothers the Indians and themselves, as long as Time shall measure the rolling 
year, & uttermostly endeavorer the Happiness of both Nations — Now my 
Brother and Brothers if there is any thing in the way of all these Things I 
have mentioned, I do wish & intreat you, to inform me frankly and if it can 
be in my power to serve to removing any such Thing as may obstruct our 
mutual Happiness, I shall always think myself happy of having it in my 
power so to do ; or if you think some other Person more suitable to represent 
this Matter should be glad it was soon done & your objections to my Errand 
sent to the great Council at Philada." 

To which Mr. Whole Face after consulting with the others gave the 
following answer : 

" Brother of the Big Knife, 

" Several Surveyors have been up here to Measure Lands the Last Sum- 
mer and have gone Home. We knew not what was their meaning, as none of 
them told us, but went on without so much as informing their Intent. When 
they came to our hunting Fires, we used them well without any Question & 
when they wanted any of our assistance we gave it freely. Many of our young 
Warriors are dissatisfied with (their) Conduct, who are in the English Interest 
and also with the Reward we received for the Lands Thinking it inadequate 
for so large a Body ; it not being one pair of Mokosons a piece ; they there- 
fore would advise me not to proceed on my Business and to inform the thir- 
teen Fires it was their opinion I was not safe to proceed, though thev present 
would pledge their Faith for my safety against all Indians at Venango & the 
Hunters to the Southward of that place ; yet would not answer for it to the 
Northward, not even one Mile. That in the Spring as early as possible the 
six Nations would-hold a great Council at Fort Pitt where & when they & all 
their Brethren hoped to make an endless Peace with their Brothers of the 
thirteen Fires & hoped till then I would put by every Thought of proceeding 
on my Errand as being very Dangerous ; & then they hoped everv obstruction 
would be removed & we should walk the Woods together as Brothers aught 

9S 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

to do, in Love & Pleasure. And now my Brother tell your great Council of 
the thirteen Fires tis our Fault you do not go on and not yours. 

His 
" Segonkquas X 

mark 
His 
" Tests, " Conhonew X 

" Thos. Wilkins. mark 

" Jacob Springer. 
" Traders. 

" Elijah X. Matthews, Interpreter. 

" A true copy from the Original. 

" This Dear Sir, with much more was pronounced in words and gestures 
of much warmth & earnest which made me conclude to proceed no further 
& return — My feet being much bit with Frost detains my not coming at pres- 
ent, but will come down as soon as they are recovered a Little. In the mean 
time remain yours to serve with the utmost affection ? 

" James Dickinson. 

" P. S. I have not wrote you the private conversation Directed. 

" To John Lukens, Esqr., Surveyor-General, Philadelphia." 

The explanation of Mr. Dickinson was not satisfactory, as will be seen 
by a reference-to the proceedings of the Supreme Executive Council at meet- 
ings held in Philadelphia, March 9 and 10, 1786, to be found in Volume XIV., 
pages 653 and 654, Colonial Records. Among the proceedings of the 9th 
the following appears : " On consideration of the delinquency of James Dick- 
inson, a deputy-surveyor of donation lands, stated in a letter from Mr. Lukens, 
it was ordered, That he be removed from office, and that the surveyor-general 
proceed to nominate a successor thereto;" and on the following day we find 
that " Griffith Evans, Esquire, was appointed a deputy-surveyor of donation 
lands, in the room of James Dickinson, removed by an order of yesterday." 
This accounts for the omission of surveys from the ninth district in the first 
returns made to the land-office, nor were any surveys for donation purposes 
subsequently made in the district. The reason for this may be found in a 
minute of the Supreme Executive Council, May 5, 1786, Volume XV., page 16, 
Colonial Records. The following appears among the proceedings of that day : 
" A memorial from sundry officers of the late Pennsylvania Line, stating that 
large bodies of excellent land remain yet unsurveyed on the waters of Beaver 
River, in the donation land, very far superior in value, quality, and situation, 
to the lands in district number nine, and praying that the number of lots de- 
signed for the ninth district may be surveyed on the aforesaid waters, bv the 
surveyor appointed to said district, was read and referred to the surveyor- 

99 

L01 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

general, who is directed to comply with the prayer of the said petition." Ac- 
cordingly Griffith Evans, the successor of James Dickinson, immediately 
proceeded to locate the lots assigned to the ninth district in the unsurveyed 
parts of districts numbers one, two, and three, and on the 24th of July, 1786, 
made his returns to the land-office. The return of the surveys made by Mr. 
Evans, in districts one, two, and three, in place of those originally intended 
for the ninth district, completed the survey of all the districts and the con- 
nected drafts of each district, in a good state of preservation, are now remain- 
ing in the Department of Internal Affairs. The number of lots returned was 
slightly in excess of the number the surveyor-general was directed to have 
surveyed. There were two hundred lots of five hundred acres, one hundred 
of three hundred acres, two hundred of two hundred and fifty acres, and 
two thousand one hundred and seventy of two hundred acres, making two 
thousand six hundred and eighty lots comprising six hundred and sixteen 
thousand five hundred acres of land. Preparations were now begun for the 
distribution of the lots. The surveyor-general made his return to Council, and 
on the 31st day of August, 1786, the following order was placed upon the 
minutes: " Ordered, That the drawing of the lottery for, and the patenting of 
the said (donation) lots, shall commence on the first day of October next, to 
be continued one year from the 29th instant." The committee of members of 
the Supreme Executive Council selected to superintend the drawing of the 
lottery consisted of John Boyd, Jonathan Hoge, Stephen Ballitt, and William 
Brown, to which was shortly afterwards added Peter Muhlenberg and Samuel 
Dean. The records do not show definitely how many applicants availed them- 
selves of the privilege of drawing during the period first fixed for the lottery 
to remain open ; but evidently Lieutenant Joseph Collier was early on hand. 
He drew two lots of two hundred acres each, No. 97 in the first district and 
No. 1462 in the seventh district. A patent was issued to him on the 2d day 
of October, one day after the drawing began, and it was probably the first 
one granted. That a large number of claimants made their drawings during 
the first period is evident, however, from the number of patents that were 
granted after the opening in October, 1786, and during the year 1787, though 
it was found necessary as the closing day approached to grant an extension 
of time to enable other claimants to appear who had failed to do so. A minute 
of Council, of August 29, 1787, Volume XV., page 263, Colonial Records, 
reads as follows : " Whereas, It is represented to this Board that there are 
many of the line of the State intitled to land that have not yet appeared by 
themselves or sent orders to draw for their lots ; and by resolve of the 
board of the 31st of August. 1786. they will be precluded unless the time 
be prolonged so as to include one vear from the commencement of drawing : 
therefore. Resolved, That the lottery continue open for applicants until the 
first day of October next, and this resolution be published, so that all con- 
cerned may have notice thereof." 

100 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

The time was again extended for a period of one year by an act passed 
on the 13th of September, 1788, and by subsequent legislative enactments 
there were numerous extensions, some of the acts making them also providing 
for the proper authentication of claims, and for other purposes affecting the 
rights of claimants. The extensions of time in which to present applications 
really continued under the various laws until April 1, 1810, which was the 
last limit of time fixed, and from that day the offices were closed against any 
further applications. 

Owing to the uncertainty which existed in regard to the northern boun- 
dary of the State when the tenth district was surveyed, a serious mistake 
occurred in the location of a large number of lots in that district. It was dis- 
covered after the boundary line between Pennsylvania and New York had 
been located in 1787, that many of the lots fell within the State of New York. 
This mistake involved * one hundred and twenty lots that were wholly or in 
part within that State, thirty-one of them lying within the Erie triangle, which 
did not become a part of Erie County, Pennsylvania, until 1792. Nearly the 
entire number of these lots had been drawn from the lottery wheels by persons 
whose claims had been established, and patents had been granted to them 
before the error in the surveys became known. In order that such persons 
should not suffer by an unfortunate and mistaken location of the land they 
had drawn, and thus be deprived of the reward promised to them, the General 
Assembly on the 30th day of September, 1791, passed a law for their relief. 
The first section of the act provided that the surveyor-general should ascertain 
and report to the governor the number of patents that had fallen within the 
State of New York, together with the number of acres contained in each 
patent and the names of the persons to whom such patents were issued, which 
report was to be printed in three newspapers in Philadelphia, with notice to 
all persons concerned to apply before the first day of December following to 
the surveyor-general, who was authorized to ascertain by lot the order of 
priority by which such persons should choose other lots. The second section 
provided that applicants should in their order of priority choose other lots 
out of any of the surveyed tracts not otherwise disposed of within any of the 
donation districts. The third section, that after such persons had made their 
choice, patents should be granted to them without fees, on the surrender for 
cancellation of the patents previously granted to them. They were also 

* The estimate of the authorities at the time was that one hundred and forty 
lots fell wholly within the State of New York and twenty-three partly so, making one 
hundred and sixty-three in all. This was an overestimate. An actual count of the lots 
as laid down in the map of the district, if the line drawn thereon is correct, shows the 
number affected by the mistake to have been as above stated. It was also afterwards 
discovered that a number of lots that had been drawn and released as lying in New York 
were found to be wholly in Pennsylvania, a fact shown in the preamble of an act passed 
April 2, 1802. 

101 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

required to give quit claims to the Commonwealth for compensation on account 
of any losses they may have suffered. This act was followed by another on 
the ioth of April, 1792, extending the limit of time fixed for receiving appli- 
cations from December 1, 1 791, to July 1, 1792, and directing the report of the 
surveyor-general to be printed in newspapers of Philadelphia, Lancaster, York, 
Chambersburg, Harrisburg, Carlisle, and Pittsburg, with notice that applica- 
tion must be made within the time designated. Other legislation for the pur- 
pose of fully indemnifying the persons who held patents to these lots, and 
to secure to them all the benefits to which they were entitled under the acts 
of March 12, 1783, and March 24, 1785, followed the acts above mentioned. 
The acts of April 5, 1793, and February 23, 1801, were of that character. In 
the last act the comptroller-general was directed to furnish to the secretary 
of the land-office a list of the names of such persons whose lots fell outside 
of the State as had received no equivalent. It also provided that applica- 
tions under the act should be made within three years by the applicant per- 
sonally, his widow or children, or by his, her, or their attorney. When made 
by an attorney he was " to declare under oath or affirmation that he had no 
interest in the claim otherwise than to serve the applicant." The Board of 
Property was given power to act in all cases of dispute between applicants, 
and when lots were drawn the secretary of the land-office was directed to 
grant patents under the inspection of the Board of Property in the same 
manner as was formerly done by the Supreme Executive Council. There was 
no further legislation with special reference to the lots that were surveyed 
within the State of New York. Under the provisions of the laws recited the 
claims of all applicants who drew such lots were received when made within 
the limit of time prescribed, and properly adjusted. 

Another difficulty arose in relation to a large number of the lots surveyed 
in the second district because of the alleged inferior quality of the land laid 
off by the surveyor, John Henderson. In his notes and observations General 
Irvine says, in reference to the character of the country which became part 
of that district, that " East of this path * along Mr. McLane's line for five 
or six miles, the land is pretty level, well watered with small springs, and of 
tolerable quality, but from thence to the Allegheny River which is about 
twenty-five miles due east, there is no land worth mentioning fit for culti- 
vation." As it was the expressed intention of the General Assembly when the 
donation was made that only the best lands within the territory set apart by 
law should be surveyed for the purpose of the donation, it was thought wrong 
that so laudable a design on the part of the law-makers should be defeated 
by giving lands that could not be cultivated. The attention of the surveyor- 
general had early been called to the poor quality of the land in this district 
by General Irvine. In a letter to General Armstrong, dated at Carlisle, July 

* The path leading from Fort Pitt to Venango. 
102 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

1 8, 1786, he recommended that all the surveys made by John Henderson be 
rejected by Council, and that Major Alexander be appointed to lay off an 
equal number of lots in other parts of the reserved tracts without being con- 
fined to any particular district. He further says in the same letter, " If the 
surveyor-general has not found my letter in which I complained of John Hen- 
derson's surveys as improper to be accepted — he has had sufficient verbal 
testimony as well from me as sundry other persons to justify his informing 
Council that the land is not such as the Assembly intended the troops should 
get, or they could possibly think of receiving, particularly as he surveyed all 
bad and left a large quantity of good land within his district." The views of 
General Irvine were not fully adopted, though his representations did to a 
certain extent influence the action of Council. In the preparations for the 
drawing of the lottery, one hundred and thirty-four tracts of two hundred 
acres each, lying in the eastern part of the district, nearest to the Allegheny 
River, and now part of Butler County, were stricken from the scheme, and 
the numbers representing the tracts not placed in the wheels. By this action 
of Council the district became known as the " Struck District" and was ever 
after so called. The struck numbers remained out of the wheel until after 
the act of April 2, 1802, the title of which was " An Act to complete the 
benevolent intention of the Legislature of this Commonwealth, by distributing 
the donation lands to all who are entitled thereto," became a law. The pre- 
amble to this act set forth that some of the officers and soldiers of the Penn- 
sylvania Line had not received their donation land, and that it was represented 
that among the lots in the tenth district, for which the owners had received 
patents and which they had released as being in the State of New York, and 
received other lots in lieu thereof, many were still in Pennsylvania, and also 
that there were a number of other lots within the bounds of the donated sur- 
veys not numbered, returned, or otherwise appropriated. Under this act it 
was made the duty of the land officers to ascertain the number of such lots of 
each description that remained undrawn and not otherwise appropriated, or 
which, having been drawn, had not been applied for within the time prescribed 
by law, and to cause numbers corresponding to each lot to be made and placed 
in the wheels from which they were to draw on application being made to 
them by persons entitled to the donation. Acting under this law the Board 
of Property, which by this section of the same act was given the same powers 
relative to donation lands that it exercised over other lands within the Com- 
monwealth, decided to include the lots of the " Struck District," and put 
corresponding numbers in the wheels. These numbers remained in the wheels 
until the act of March 25, 1805, directing them to be withdrawn and not again 
put in. During the years 1803-4-5, many of the lots had been drawn, and 
patents for them granted, in some instances causing trouble and litigation. 
Presuming the lands in the eastern part of the district to be vacant and open 
to settlement and improvement under the act of April 3, 1792, many settlers 

103 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

had gone into the locality and made valuable improvements that interfered 
with the surveys of the donation lots, thus, of course, involving patentees of 
donation land and actual settlers in disputes and expensive law-suits. To pre- 
vent such undesirable and unfortunate results the act of 1805 was passed. 
The tickets were taken out of the wheels as directed by the law, and the un- 
drawn lots of the " Struck District" thereafter remained a part of the unappro- 
priated lands north and west of the Ohio and Allegheny Rivers and Cone- 
wango Creek open to sale and settlement. 

In order to enable the land officers and the Board of Property to execute 
the duties enjoined upon them by the act of 1802, the Secretary of the Com- 
monwealth was directed to transfer all records relating to the donation lands 
to the surveyor-general's office, and by the same act the Board of Property 
was authorized to direct patents to be issued to the widow, heir, or heirs of any 
deceased officer or soldier on satisfactory proof of their right being made. 

The act of March 24, 1785, seemed to require the beneficiaries under its 
provisions to participate in the drawing in person. To do so was no doubt a 
serious inconvenience to many, while others, who could not afford the expense 
of a journey to Philadelphia, would be entirely deprived of the benefits of the 
act. Be this as it may, it was soon discovered that many persons had not 
received their land, and in consequence of this condition of the distribution, the 
Legislature, by an act passed April 6, 1792, directed the land officers, on the 
2d day of July following, to draw lots for every person entitled to donation 
land who had not received the same, agreeably to the list submitted by the 
comptroller to the Supreme Executive Council, the same as if the person thus 
entitled to land was present; and the patents were to be granted to such 
persons or their legal representatives as in other cases. It was also ascertained 
that there were other persons who had served in the Pennsylvania Line enti- 
tled to the donation, but whose names, from some unexplained cause, did not 
appear in the list prepared by the comptroller-general in 1786. To remedy 
this defect and enable these persons to receive their quota of land, the Legis- 
lature passed an important act relating to them on the 17th of April, 1795. 
This act directed the comptroller-general to prepare a complete list of such 
persons entitled to lands whose names were not included in the first list, 
together with their rank and the quantity of land each should receive. This 
list was to be transmitted to the surveyor-general, the receiver-general, and 
the secretary of the land-office, and it was made their duty then to employ 
a suitable person to prepare tickets and place them in wheels in the same 
manner as had been done for the first drawing. No greater number of tickets 
were to be placed in the wheel than would give to each his quantity of land. 
After these preparations were complete the claimants could attend the drawing 
in person to draw their lots, or authorize an agent to draw for them, and for 
such persons as did not attend in person, or by agent, the surveyor-general, 
receiver-general, and secretary of the land-office were authorized to draw. 

104 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

When the drawing was finished a report was to be made to the governor, who 
was directed to prepare and deliver the patents at the expense of the State. 
The legal representatives of deceased persons entitled to the benefits of the act 
were permitted to draw lots, or have lots drawn for them, the same as such 
deceased persons might have done if living. The time allowed for making 
application under the act was one year from its passage, with a proviso that 
persons " beyond sea, or out of the United States," shall have two years, and 
persons serving in the army of the United States at the time of its passage 
should have three years, of which the surveyor-general was to give notice for 
six weeks in one of the newspapers of Philadelphia, and in one in each county 
of the State in which newspapers were published. This was followed by an 
act passed April II, 1799, providing among other things for the authentica- 
tion of claims by the comptroller-general, register-general, and State treasurer, 
who were to inquire into their lawfulness, ascertain whether they remained 
unsatisfied, and in each case to transmit to the secretary of the land-office a 
certificate stating whether the claim should be allowed or rejected, the cer- 
tificate to be conclusive. After 1805, aside from a number of acts granting 
donations of land to certain individuals for special reasons, there was no 
further legislation in reference to these lands of any importance. A question 
of succession had arisen in the case of an officer who had been killed in the 
service. He was unmarried, and the land that fell to his share was claimed 
by a brother as heir-at-law. The Supreme Court decided the claim to be 
good. The Legislature then, on the nth of March, 1809, passed an act that 
no patent was thereafter to issue for donation lands except to the widow or 
children of any deceased officer or soldier who died or was killed in service. 

There had been extensions of the time for filing applications, year by 
year, until the final limitation as fixed in the previous year, expired on the 
1st day of April, 1810. No further applications were received after that date, 
though patents for lots that had previously been drawn continued to be freely 
granted for some years longer. After the drawing had been closed, there still 
remained in the wheels a number of undrawn tickets, and by the act of March 
26, 1813, the Legislature made provision for the sale and settlement of such 
of them as should remain undrawn on the 1st day of October following. It 
was provided that a person who had made an improvement and settlement, 
resided with his family on the lot three years previous to the passing of the 
act, and cleared, fenced, and cultivated at least ten acres of ground ; or a 
person who should after the 1st day of October make an improvement and 
actual settlement by erecting a dwelling-house, reside with a family on the 
lot three years from the date of that settlement, and clear, fence, and cultivate 
at least ten acres of ground, could receive a patent for such donation lot, by 
paying into the State treasury at the rate of one dollar and fifty cents an acre 
with interest from three years after the settlement was made, and the usual 
office fees. The settlement first made and continued, or thereafter made and 

105 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

continued, gave an inception of title to the person making it. These tonus 
are somewhat similar in character to those provided in act of April 3, 1792, 

for the sale of the unappropriated parts of the lands lying within the donation 
districts, except that the price fixed for such lands was only twenty cents an 
acre. Phis difference in price must he accounted for in the supposition that 
the lauds surveyed for the soldiers were tar superior in quality to the other 
unappropriated parts of the territory originally set apart for donation pur- 
poses. The price for the undrawn lots continued to he one dollar and fifty 
cents an acre until February 35, 1810. when it was reduced to fifty cents an 
acre. The rate of fifty cents was continued until March 31, 1845. ;U which 
time the terms were made in all respects the same as for other vacant lands 
in the same districts. 

This concludes the sketch of the Donation Lands of Pennsylvania and 
the mode in which they were allotted and conveyed to the persons who came 
within the provisions of the grant ; and we trust it may prove of some interest 
to the readers of this report. The benefaction was a most worthy and patriotic 
one to a line of gallant soldiers who served their country well, and endured 
much in aiding to achieve liberty for the American colonies, from which has 
since grown our mighty and beneficent American republic. The Pennsyl- 
vania 1 1110 was an important factor in producing grand results, and rewards 
to such soldiers were well bestowed, 

'" I egally, there never was any such thing as the Holland Land Com- 
pany, or the Holland Company, as they were usually called. 

" The company consisted of Wilhelm Willink and eleven associates, mer- 
chants and capitalists of the city of Amsterdam, who placed tmids in the 
hands of friends who were citizens of America to purchase a million acres oi 
land in Pennsylvania, which, being aliens, the Hollanders could not hold in 
their names at that time: and in pursuance of the trust created, there were 
purchased, both in New York and Pennsylvania, immense tracts of land, all 
managed by the same general agent at Philadelphia. 

'" The names of the several persons interested in these purchases, and 
who composed the Holland Land Company, so called, were as follows: Wil- 
helm Willink. Nicholas Van Staphorst, Lieter Van Eeghen, Hendrick Yollen- 
hoven, and Ruter Jan Schiminelpenninck. Two years later the five proprietors 
transferred a tract of about one million acres, so that the title vested in the 
original five, and also in Wilhelm Willink. Jr.. Jan Willink. Jr.. Jan Gabriel 
Van Staphorst. Roelif Van Staphorst. Jr.. Cornelius Yollenhoven. and Hen- 
drick Seve." 



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CHAPTER VI 



PIONEER ANIMALS — BEAVERS, BUFFALOES, ELKS, PANTHERS, YVOI.VKS, WILD- 
CATS, BEARS, AND OTHER ANIMALS — HABITS, ETC. — PENS AND TRAPS — 
BIRDS — WILD BEES 

" Nature is a story-book 
That <i"il hath written for you." 

The mountainous character of this northwest and the dense forests that 
covered almost its whole area made the region a favorite haunt of wild beasts. 
Many of them have disappeared, and it is difficult to believe that animals 
now extinct on the continent at large were once numerous within the boun- 
daries of this territory. 

The beaver, the buffalo, the elk, and the deer were probably the most 
numerous of the animals. " Beaver will not live near man, and at an early 
period after the settlement of this State these animals withdrew into the 
secluded regions and ultimately entirely disappeared." The last of them 
known in this State made their homes in the great " Flag Swamp," or Beaver 
Meadow, iif Clearfield County, now aboul and above I >u liois City, 

LITTLE CHANGE AMONG HEAVERS 

Those who have made them a study assert that, with the exception of 
man, no other animal now upon the earth has undergone so little change in 
size and structure as the beaver. Fossil deposits show that in its present 
form it is at least contemporaneous with and probably antedates the mammoth 
and the other monsters that once roamed the great forests of the earth. The 
skeletons of beavers found in this country are the same as those of the same 
species found in the fossil beds of Europe. .Man is the only other mammal of 
which this is true. How the beaver came to traverse the ocean has never 
been explained. 

" Coarse-fibred, cautious in its habits, warmly protected by nature against 
climatic influences, simple and hearty in its diet, wise beyond all other forms 
of lower animal life, prolific and heedful of its young, the beaver has seen 
changes in the whole function of the world and the total disappearance of 
countless species of animal and vegetable life. 

" The beaver mates but once, and then for a lifetime. There arc no 
divorces, and, so far as has been observed, no matings of beavers who have 

107 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

lost their mates by death. Young beavers are given a place in the family 
lodge until they are two years old, and are then turned out to find mates and 
homes for themselves. The age of the beaver is from twelve to sixteen years. 

" No other animal has excited so much interest by his home-making and 
home-guarding as this. ' Wisest of Wild Folk' is the English equivalent for 
his name in the tongue of the Ojibways. 

" Originally a mere burrower in the earth, like his cousins the hedge-hog 
and the porcupine, he has so improved upon natural conditions that only man 
is able to reach him in his abiding-places. Indeed, he approaches man in the 
artificial surroundings that he has adopted for self-preservation. 

" The principal engineering and structural works of the beaver are the 
dam, the canal, the meadow, the lodge, the burrow, and the slide. These are 
not always found together and some of them are rare." 

THEY FORM AN INTERESTING STORY 

" Beaver-dams have been found which have been kept in repair by beavers 
for centuries. It is not unusual to find them more than fifty feet long and so 




Beaver 



solid that they will support horses and wagons. Fallen trees that have been 
cut down by the sharp teeth of the beavers are sometimes the foundation. 
More often branches and a great heap of small stones make the beginning. 

" The side toward the water is of mud and pebbles smoothly set by the 
use of the broad, paddle-like tail of the animal. Interlaced branches and poles 
make a substantial backing for the earth. A growth of underbrush caps the 
whole. 

" The dam is built for two reasons — to afford a retreat where the home- 
loving beaver may rest safe from his enemies of the forest, particularly the 
wolverines, and to give a depth of water that will not freeze to the bottom. 
A total freeze would effectually lock him in his home and be the cause of 
death by starvation. 

10S 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

"The dam, in a temperate climate, is usually about four feet deep. It 
curves up-stream when of great length. Upon the highest part of the sub- 
merged area the beaver builds his lodge. This is practically an island capped 
bv a wigwam made of sticks and earth. The outer roof of hardened mud is 
repaired at the beginning of every winter, and the ceiling of scaling wood 
and dry earth is removed and taken out of the lodge every spring. Indeed, 
the beaver is the neatest of housekeepers, only the household nests of dry 
leaves and sap-bearing wood enough for each meal being allowed within his 
home. 

" Two passages lead from the floor of the lodge into the water. One of 
these is wide and straight. Through it the members of the family bring the 
twigs and roots for their meals. The second passage is narrow and winding, 
and through it the beavers disappear at the first sign of danger. 

" The burrows are made in the banks of the artificial lake created by the 
dam. The entrances to them are beneath the surface of the water. They 
slope upward with the bank, and, like the lodge, end in snug, dry homes above 
the water level. The celibate beavers live entirely in burrows ; the families 
in both lodges and burrows. 

" To guard against the flooding of their homes the beavers provide out- 
lets for the surplus water. Sometimes the upper part of the dam is purposely 
left thin and the water trickles through in a steady stream. Where the bank 
is thick and impervious an overflow gully is cut in its summit, and through 
this the surplus passes. 

" Beaver meadows are made by the rotting and cutting away of timbers 
within the area of partial flooding. With the passing of the larger vegetation 
comes a smaller growth of water grasses, upon which the beavers thrive. 

" The wonderful beaver canals are streams several feet in width leading 
from the artificial lake made by the dam into the forest. Upon these the wise 
little animals float heavy saplings and branches that they would otherwise be 
unable to transport to the face of the dam. 

" The slides are skidways made by beavers down the sides of high, steep 
banks. Trees and stones are rolled down these for use in home-making. 

" In carrying earth, stones, and sticks on land the beaver uses his fore- 
feet as we do our hands, holding what he carries tightly against his throat. 
In swimming the use of the front feet is unnecessary. He is enabled to hold 
a heavy branch in front of his breast and to swim swiftly with his tail and his 
powerful hind feet. 

" Most affectionate and intelligent as a pet is the beaver when taken 
young. When annoyed it gives a querulous cry, like that of an infant. Its 
beautiful thick coat of reddish brown fur makes it the prey of the trapper. 

" Beavers, when caught in traps by the forelegs, almost invariably wrench 
themselves free, leaving the member in the trap. Many of the pelts brought 
into the market have one leg and occasionallv two leers missing:. 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

"' Although their sense of sight is deficient, those of scent and hearing are 
abnormally developed. The work of construction and repair upon the dams 
is always done at night, the workers occasionally stopping to listen tor sus- 
picions sounds. The one who hears anything to excite his alarm dives in- 
stantly, and as he disappears gives warning to his comrades by striking his 
broad, flat tail upon the stir face of the water. The sound rivals a pistol-shot 
in its alarming loudness." — Philadelphia North .-Inter... 

" The beaver is really a sort of portable pulp-mill, grinding np most any 
kind of wood that comes in his way. 1 once measured a white birch-tree, 
twenty-two inches through, cut down by a beaver. A single beaver generally, 
if not always, fells the tree, and when it comes down the whole family fall to 
and have a regular frolic with the bark and branches. A big beaver will bring- 
down a fair-sized sapling, say three inches through, in about two minutes, and 
a large tree in about an hour. 

" One of the queerest facts about the beaver is the rapidity with which 
his long, chisel-like teeth will recover from an injury/' 

W illiam Dixon killed a beaver in 1840, near what is now called Sabttla. or 
Summit Tunnel, Clearfield County. This was perhaps the last one killed in 
■:'.•. State 

A beaver was reported killed in 1884 on Pine Creek, in Clinton County. 
It was said to have been chased there from Potter County. 

Beavers have four young at a litter, and they are born with eyes open. 

THE AMERICAN BISON, OR BUFFALO 

v .'.utries ago herds of wild buffaloes fed in our valleys and on our hills. 
Yes. more, the "buffalo, or American bis ■■■. roamed in great droves over the 
sadowsand 1 plan - n the Susquehanna to Lake Erie." but none north of 
Lake Erie. 

The peculiar distinction of our buffalo was a hump over his shouli . 3 
His eye was black, his hoi is aek and thick near the head, tapering rapidly 
to a point. His face looked ferocious, yet he was not so dangerous as an elk 
The sexual seas* of the bison was from July to Se - he after 
this month the cows ranged in herds by themselves, calved in April, and the 
. - allowed the motheJ - a three years. The males fought terrible 

g . selves. The Atlantic seaboards were exceptional'.-, free. 
esh ( - cow was delicious food, and the hump espec 
was c sidere< § . . . . . eacy. At what time they were driven from north- 
ern Pennsylv; - . three hundred years ago the north 
w.s; was alive with them. 

" Twe: :-. . ears ago these animals, whose flesh was an im- 

. and much prise ; . .- . 1 food, the ta es lee al and whose pe is 

were — great demand for robes, buffalo overshoes, and garments to pre:.;: 

both the civilize.' . . . . ees n the piercing wi- :. 3 .s:s. were 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

found on our western prairies in countless thousands. To day, owing t" the 
cruel, wasteful, and greedy skin and meal hunters, there are not, ii is assei ted, 
any buffaloes in a wild state in the United Stales. According to .1 recenl 
published report, between tin- years [860 and [882 inure than fifteen million 
buffaloes were killed within the limits of the United Stales." Buffaloes and 
elks used the same trails and feeding grounds. 

The American elk was widely distributed in this section in t794' ' '"' 
habitat id' this noble game was the forest extending across the northern 
pari id' the Stale. These animals were quite numerous in the thirties. 

" When I stalled, in lXj<>, to amuse and profit myself liy following the 

chase in Northern Pennsylvania," said Colonel Parker, of Gardeau, McKean 
County, Pennsylvania, "elks were running in those woods in herds. I have 




- - • 



jji ■■■». 



Buffalo 



killed elks a plenty in the Rocky Mountain country and other regions since, 

hut I never ran across any that were as hi^ as those old-lime Pennsylvania 

elks. I have killed elks on the Sinnemahoning and Pine Creek waters, and 
down on the Clarion River and West Branch, that were as big as horses. A 
one-thousand-pound elk was nothing uncommon in thai country, and I killed 
one once that weighed twelve hundred pounds. These were bucks. The does 
would weigh anywhere from six hundred lo eight hundred pounds. 

"These elks had very short and thick- necks, with a short and upright 
mane. Their ears were of enormous size, so large, in fact, that once Sterling 
Devins, a good hunter, too, saw a doe elk in the woods on Pine Mill, near < He 

1 1 1 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Bull's castle, in the times when elks had begun to grow scarce, and passed 
without shooting at it, thinking it was a mule. When the elk bounded away, 
though, and disappeared among the thick timber, Sterling knew what it was, 
and felt like kicking himself harder than the elk could have kicked him, even 
if it had been a mule. 

" The Pennsylvania elk's eyes were small, but sparkled like jewels. I 
have often seen a score or more pairs of these bright eyes shining in the dark 
recesses of the pine-forest, when the shadows might have otherwise obscured 
the presence there of the owners of those telltale orbs. An infuriated buck 
elk's eye was about as fearful a thing to look at as anything well imaginable, 
but so quickly changeable was the nature of these huge beasts that two hours 
after having captured with ropes one that had, from the vantage ground 
of his rock, gored and trampled the life out of a half-dozen of dogs, and 
well-nigh overcome the attacking hunters, it submitted to being harnessed to 
an improvised sled and unresistingly hauled a load of venison upon it six 
miles through the woods to my cabin, and took its place among the cattle with 
as docile an air as if it had been born and brought up among them. 

" This same elk that Sterling Devins had mistaken for a mule, he and 
Ezra Prichard followed all the next day, but lost its trail. Some Pine Creek 
hunters got on its trail, drove it to its rock, and roped it. When Devins and 
Prichard got back at night they found the Pine Creek hunters there and the 
elk in the barn eating hay and entirely at home. That elk had quite an inter- 
esting subsequent history. Ezra Prichard had, previous to the capture of 
this one, secured a pair of elks, broke them, and for a long time drove them 
in farm work like a yoke of oxen. Sterling Devins was eager for a yoke of 
elk, and he offered the Pine Creek hunters one hundred dollars for the one 
they had captured. They refused the offer, but afterwards got into a dispute 
about its ownership, and it was sold to Bill Stowell and John Sloanmaker, of 
Jersey Shore. These men took the elk about the country, exhibiting it, and 
made quite a sum of money. Next fall, although the elk was a doe, it became 
very ugly and attacked its keeper, nearly killing him before he could get away. 
No one could go near her, and her owners ordered her shot. The carcass was 
bought by a man who had a fine pair of elk horns. He was a skilful taxider- 
mist, and he managed to fasten the horns to the head of the doe elk in such 
a manner that no one was ever able to tell that they hadn't grown there. This 
made of the head an apparently magnificent head of a buck elk, and it was 
purchased for one hundred dollars, under that belief, by a future governor 
of Pennsylvania." 

LAST ELK IN THE PINE CREEK REGION 

" That doe elk was one of the last family of elks in the Pine Creek country. 
She and the buck and a fawn had been discovered some time before Sterling 
Devins ran across the doe, by Leroy Lyman, on Tomer's run, near the Ole 
Bull settlement. Lyman got a shot at the buck, but the whole three escaped. 

112 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

The same party of hunters that captured the doe killed the buck afterwards 
in the woods on Kettle Creek. The fawn the dogs ran into Stowell's mill- 
pond, and there it was killed. 

" Another peculiarity of the elks that used to frequent the Pennsylvania 
woods was the great size of their nostrils, and the keenness of their scent was 
something beyond belief. A set of elk antlers of five feet spread, and weighing 
from forty to fifty pounds, was not an infrequent trophy. George Rae, who 
was one of the great hunters of Northern Pennsylvania in his day, — and he is 
one of the greatest in the Rocky Mountains even to this day, in spite of his 
eighty-five years, — lived along the Allegheny at Portville. He had in his 
house, and in his barn, the walls almost covered with the antlers of elks he had 
killed, on the peak of his roof, at one end, being one that measured nearly six 
feet between the extremities. When George moved West forty years ago he 
left the horns on the buildings, and only a few years ago many of them were 
still there, as reminders of what game once roamed our woods. 

" It required more skill to hunt the elk than it did to trail the deer, as 
they were much more cautious and alert. For all that, an elk, when startled 
from his bed, did not instantly dash away, like the deer, but invariably looked 
to see what had aroused him. Then, if he thought the cause boded him no 
good, away he went, not leaping over the brush, like the deer, but, with his 
head thrown back, and his great horns almost covering his body, plunging 
through the thickets, his big hoofs clattering together like castanets as he 
went. The elk did not go at a galloping gait, but travelled at a swinging 
trot that carried him along at amazing speed. He never stopped until he had 
crossed water, when his instinct seemed to tell him that the scent of his trail 
was broken before the pursuing dogs. 

" At the rutting season the elk, both male and female, was fearless and 
fierce, and it behooved the hunter to be watchful. An elk surprised at this 
season did not wait for any overt act on the part of an enemy, but was in- 
stantly aggressive. One blow from an elk's foot would kill a wolf or a dog, 
and I have more than once been forced to elude an elk by running around 
trees, jumping from one to another before the bulky beast, unable to make the 
turns quick enough, could recover himself and follow me too closelv to prevent 
it, thus making my way by degrees to a safe refuge. I was once treed by a 
buck elk not half a mile from home, and kept there from noon until night 
began to fall. I haven't the least doubt that he would have kept me there all 
night if another buck hadn't bugled a challenge from a neighboring hill, and 
my buck hurried away in answer to it. I didn't wait to see it, but there was 
a great fight between those two bucks that night. 

" I visited the spot the next day. The ground was torn up and the sap- 
lings broken down for rods around, and one old buck lay in the brush dead, 
his body covered with bloody rips and tears. I didn't know whether this was 
the elk that treed me or not, but I have always been fond of believing it was. 
8 113 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" The whistle of the buck elk, as the hunters used to call it, wasn't a 
whistle, although there were changes in it that gave it something of a flute-like 
sound. The sound was more like the notes of a bugle. In making it the buck 
threw back his head, swelled his throat and neck to an enormous size, and with 




that as a bellows he blew from his open mouth the sound that made at once his 
challenge or call for a mate. The sound was far-reaching, and, heard at a 
distance, was weird and uncanny, yet not unmusical. Near by it was rasping 
and harsh, with the whistling notes prominent. 

"4 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" The Pennsylvania elks were never much scattered. When I first came 
to the Sinnemahoning country, nearly seventy years ago, the salt marsh that lay 
in the wilderness where my residence now is was trampled over by herds of 
elks and deer that came there to lick the salt from the ground as if a drove of 
cattle had been there. I have seen seventy-five elks huddled at that marsh. 
That was ' the great elk lick' of legend, which the reservation Indians have 
often talked to me about when I lived in Allegheny County, New York, as a 
boy, and it was to find that lick that my father and I, following the rather 
indefinite directions of one Johnnyhocks, an old Shongo Indian, entered the 
Pennsylvania wilderness in 1826." 

A TOUGH OLD BUCK 

" To follow an elk forty miles before running it down was considered 
nothing remarkable. I have done it many a time. Leroy Lyman, Jack Lyman, 
and A. H. Goodsell once started on an elk-hunt from Roulette, Potter County, 
struck the trail at the head of West Creek, in McKean County, thirty miles 
from Roulette, followed it through Elk, Clarion, and Clearfield Counties, and 
finally drove it to its rock eighty or ninety miles from where the trail was 
first struck. They had followed the elk many days, and finally the quarry was 
found, — an enormous buck, — with a spread of horns like a young maple-tree. 
The hunters ran out of rations the second day, and were nearly starved when 
they ran the elk to its rock. All three of them put a bullet in the defiant elk 
and ended his career. Visions of elk-meat for supper had haunted the fam- 
ished hunters, and when the buck fell they shouted for joy. Without delay 
they started in to carve expected juicy morsels from the carcass to cook for 
supper, but there was not a knife or a hunting-axe in that party that could 
make an impression on the old fellow's flesh. He was a patriarch of the 
woods, and long past use as food. All the starving hunters could manage to 
make edible of the elk was his tongue, which, roasted, was a grateful offering 
to hungry men, but would have been impossible of mastication otherwise. 
The horns were the only trophy that the hunters got from the long and 
tedious chase, and that trophy was well worth it. It was the largest and next 
to the finest pair of antlers ever carried by an elk in the Pennsylvania forest, 
so far as there is any record." 

THE ELK VS. WOLVES 

" There are scattered through the woods, generally high on the hills, 
from the Allegheny River down to the West Branch and Clarion River, huge 
rocks, some detached boulders, and other projections of ledges. These are 
known as elk rocks, and every one of them has been, in its day, the last resort 
of some elks brought to bay after a long and hard chase. It was the habit of 
the hunted elk, when it had in vain sought to throw the hunter and hound 
from the trail, to make its stand at one of these rocks. Mounting it, and facing 

"5 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

its foes, it fiercely fought off the assaults of the dogs by blows of his forefeet 
or tremendous kicks from its hind foot, until the hunter came up and ended 
the tight with his ritlo. It would be strange if one or more of the dogs were 
not stretched dead at the foot of the rook by the time the hunter arrived on 
the scene. I have more than once found dead wolves lying about one of these 
oik rooks, tolling mutely, but eloquently, the tragic story of the pursuit of the 
elk by the wolves, his coming to bay on the rook, the battle, and the oik's 
victory. The oik was not always victor, though, in such battles with wolves, 
and I have frequently found the stripped skeleton of one lying among the 
skeletons of wolves he had killed before being himself vanquished by their 
savage and hungry follows. 

" In the winter time the oiks would gather in largo herds and their range 
would be exceedingly limited. Sometimes they would migrate to other 
regions, and would not be soon for months in their haunts, but suddenly they 
would return and bo as plentiful as ever. They had their regular paths or 
runways through the woods, and those invariably led to salt lioks. of which 
there were many natural ones in Northern Pennsylvania. One of the most 
frequented of those elk paths started in a dense forest, whore the town of 
Ridgway. the county seat of Elk County, now stands, led to the great lick on 
the Sinnemahoning portage, and thence through the forest to another big lick, 
which to-day is covered by Washington Park, in the city of Bradford. I have 
followed that elk path its whole length, when the only sign of civilization 
was now and then a hunter's cabin, from the head-waters of the Clarion River 
to the Allegheny, in Mckean County. Hundreds of elks wore killed annually 
at the licks or while travelling to and from them, along their well-marked 
runways." 

UfN HNG ELKS AT NIGHT 

" Hunting elks by night was an exciting sport. You have heard of per- 
sons being scared by their own shadows. If you had ever hunted a Pennsyl- 
vania elk at night you would have had an opportunity of seeing something 
soared by its own shadow, and scared badly. A blaring pine-knot tiro would 
be lighted in the bow of a flat-bottomed boat, and while one man sat near that 
end with his rifle, another paddled it through the water. Elks were always 
sure to be standing in the water early in the evening, after darkness had fully 
set in. When the light of the tiro fell on an elk you would not only see his 
eyes shining like coals, but the whole big spectral spread of his antlers would 
stand out against the darkness — not only the bonis of one. but of perhaps 
half a dozen. When the hunter tired at one elk all the others would make a 
break for shore, but the instant they lauded, their groat black shadows would 
fall before them from the light of the blazing tires, and back they would rush 
in terror to the water. Then a hunter might kill every elk in the herd, or 
several of them, before their fright at the gun overcame the terror of the 
shadow and the survivors fled to the impenetrable darkness of the woods. 

no 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" The biggest set of elk antlers ever captured in the Pennsylvania woods 
was secured in the Kettle Creek country by Major Isaac Lyman, I'hilip Tome, 
George Ayres, L. D. Spoffanl, and William Wattles. Philip Tome was a 
great hunter, and die famous interpreter for Cornplanter and Blacksnake, the 
greal Indian chiefs, lie came over from Warren County to help Major 
Lyman capture an elk alive, and the party started in on the first snow, with 
plenty of ropes and things, They camped, but the elks were in such big herds 
that they couldn't get a chance at a single buck for more than a week. Then 
they got the biggest one they ever saw and gave chase to him. They started 
him from his bed on Yocum hill. The dogs took him down Little Kettle 
Creek to Big Kettle, and up that two or three miles. There the elk came to 
hay on a rock, lie kept the dogs at a distance until the hunters came up. 
when lie left the ruck and started away again. Tome, knowing the nature of 
elk. said that all they had to do was to wait and the elk would return to the 
rock. They dropped poles and fitted up nooses. They waited nearly half a 
day, and then they heard the huck coming crashing through the woods, down 
the mountain-sides, the dogs in full cry. lie mounted his rock again. The 
hunters he did not seem to mind, hut the dogs he fought fiercely. While he 
was doing that the hunters got the nooses over his immense horns and 
anchored him to surrounding trees. They got the elk alive to the Allegheny 
River, and floated him on a raft to Olean Point. From there they travelled 
with him through New York State to Albany, exhibiting him with much 
profit, and at Albany he was sold for five hundred dollars. That elk stood 
sixteen hands high and had antlers six feet long, and eleven points on each 
side, the usual number of points being nine on a side." 

The last elk killed in this State was in 1864, by Jim Jacobs, an Indian. 
This elk had been pursued for several days, and in despair sought his " rock" 
near the Clarion River, and was there shot. He was too old and tough to be 
used for food. The buffalo, elk, panther, wolf, and beaver are now extinct. 
The last buffalo killed in the State of which there is a record was about 1799. 
There were originally in this State over fifty species of wild, four-footed ani- 
mals. We had three hundred and twenty-five species and sub-species of birds, 
and our waters, including Lake Erie, had one hundred and fifty species of 
fish. It may not be amiss to state here that all our wild animals were pos- 
sessed of intelligence, courage, fear, hate, and affection. They reasoned, had 
memory, and a desire for revenge. A wolf could be tamed and trained to 
hunt like a dog. It is recorded in history that a pet snake has been known to 
travel one hundred miles home. It is undeniable that they could compute time, 
courses, and distances. Elks, bears, and deer had their own paths. Bears 
blazed theirs by biting a hemlock tree occasionally 

Elks are polygamous. The chief is a tyrant, and rules the herd like a 
czar. The does all fear him. Does breed at the age of two years, having hut 
one fawn, hut when older often two or three at a time, and these young follow 

"7 



HISTORY. OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

their mother all summer, or from the date of birth in Max or June to fall The 

oik's whistle varies much and has different meanings; they seem to have a 
language like all other animals, big or little. \ full-grown elk never forgets 
an injury, The\ can soon he taught to work like oxen, but it takes from six 
months to two years to he able to stand in front of an elk and command him. 
In 1S34, Mike, William, ami John Long and Andrew Yastbinder captured 
a full grown live elk. Their dogs chased the animal on his high rock, and 
while there the hunters lassoed him. The elk only lived three weeks in cap- 
tivity. The last elk in the State was killed in our forests. A noted hunter 
thus describes a battle between wolves and a drove of elks : " I heard a rush of 




V'.msvhauis 



•. the opposite direction, and the next moment a band of elks swept 
sight Magnificent fellows they were, eight bucks and three does, with 
a cot s. They had evidently been stampeded by something, and 

swept past me without seeing me. hut stopped short on catching sight of the 
wolves The does turned back and start* gs away in the direct 

from which they* came, but one of the bucks gave a c and they st ■. short 
huddled together with the fawns between them, while the bucks sur- 
rounded the.- Each buck lowered his horns and awaited the attack. The 
wolves, seeing th« c stling s< sconcerte* a moment 

then the - § gave a howl and threw himself upon the 

lowered - - He was Rung ful . ..: w ith a broken back, but his 

lers "•. ■ threv themselves upon the elks mh to he 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

pierced b) the prongs. It was nol until full) twent) had in this way been 
maimed and killed that the) seemed to realize the hopelessness of the tiling." 
The largest carnivorous beast was the panther. After the advent of white 
men into this wilderness panthers were not common. In the early days, 
however, there were enough of them in the forests to keep the settler or the 
hunter ever on his guard. The) haunted the wildest glens and made their 
presence known b) occasional raids on the flocks and herds. It is probable 
that here in our northwestern counties there are still a few oi these savage 

beasts. 

The puma, popularly called by our pioneers panther, was and is a large 
animal with a cat head. The average length of a panther from nose to tip 
of tail is about six to twelve feet, the tail being over two feel, long, and the 
tip of which is black. The color of the puma is tawny, dun, or reddish along 
the hack and side, and sometimes grayish-white underneath or over the abdo- 
men and chest, with a little black patch behind each ear. The panther is a 
powerful animal, as well as dangerous, hut when captured as a cub can be 
easily domesticated and will he good until he is about two years old. The 
pioneers shot them and captured many in panther- and bear-traps. The pelts 
sold for from one to twelve dollars. The catamount, or bey lynx, was a 
species of the cat, had tufts on the ears, a cat head, lout; bodied, three or four 
feet Ion;;, short-legged, big-footed, and mottled in color. The fur was valu- 
able. The lynx is sometimes mistaken for the panther. 

The Longs, Vastbinders, and other noted hunters in Jefferson County 
killed many a panther. A law was enacted in 1X00 giving a bounty of eight 
dollars for the " head" of each "rinvii wolf or panther killed, and the "pelts," 
bringing a good price for fur. stimulated these hunters greatly to do their 
best in trapping, hunting, and watching the dens of these dangerous animals. 
The bounty on the head of a wolf pup was three dollars. The bounty on the 
head of a panther whelp was four dollars. The county commissioners would 
cut the ears off these heads and give an order on the county treasurer for 
the bounty money. A panther's pelt sold for about four dollars. On one 
occasion a son of Bill Lous;', Jackson by name, boldly entered a panther's den 
and shot the animal by the light of bis glowing eyes. In [833, Jacob and 
Peter \ astbinder found a panther's den on lioonc's Mountain, now Klk 
County, They killed one, the dogs killed two, and these hunters caught a 
cub, which they kept a year and then sold it to a showman. In 1819 the 
I egislature enacted a law giving twelve dollars for a full-grown panther's 
head and live dollars for the head of a cub. 

" Nothing among the wild beasts strikes such terror to the heart of the 
settler as the cry of the wolf at a lonely spot at night. The pioneers km w 
very well that on a lonely forest trail at any hour of the day or night the other 
animals could be frightened by a slight bluff. No other animals go in packs. 
The wolf would not attack were he alone. It is when reinforced that he is a 

1 m 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

terror, and then the howl of the wolf is the most blood-curdling of all the 
noises of the night in the woods. Where he is bent upon attacking a traveller 
he announces it by a howl from one quarter. The signal is answered from 
another direction. Another piercing howl comes from somewhere else. The 
cry of the wolf echoes and rolls from hill to hill in marvellous multiplication 
of sounds. A small pack of half a dozen wolves will make the mountain seem 
alive for miles. The cry is anything but reassuring to the timid soul who is 
shut in safely by the fire of his forest cabin. It is enough to chill the marrow 
of the man who for the first time hears it when he is in the unprotected open. 
The wolf is vicious and savage. Hunger gives him any courage that he 
possesses, and that sort of courage drives him to desperation, That is why 
the wolf is such a ferocious enemy when once he is aroused to attack man. 
Death by starvation is no more alluring to him than death by the hand of his 
possible prey." 

The pioneer hunter would sometimes raise a wolf pup. This pup 
would be a dog in every sense of the word until about three years old, and 
then he would be a wolf in all his acts. 

" One hundred years ago wolves were common in Northern and Western 
Pennsylvania. In the middle of the last century large packs of them roamed 
over a great portion of the State. To the farmer they were an unmitigated 
nuisance, preying on his sheep, and even waylaying belated travellers in the 
forest. After the State was pretty well settled these beasts disappeared very 
suddenly. Many people have wondered as to the cause of their quick extinc- 
tion. Rev. Joseph Doddridge in his ' Notes' ascribes it to hydrophobia, and 
he relates several instances where settlers who were bitten by wolves perished 
miserably from that terrible disease." 

I have listened in my bed to the dismal howl of the wolf, and for the 
benefit of those who never heard a wolf's musical soiree I will state here that 
one wolf leads off in a long tenor, and then the whole pack joins in the chorus. 

Wolves were so numerous that, in the memory of persons still living in 
Brookville (1898), it was unsafe or dangerous to permit a girl of ten or 
twelve years to go a mile in the country unaccompanied. In those days the 
Longs have shot as many as five and six without moving in their tracks, and 
with a single-barrelled, muzzle-loading rifle, too. The sure aim and steady 
and courageous hearts of noted hunters made it barely possible for the early 
settlers to live in these woods, and even then they had to exercise " eternal 
vigilance." In 1835, Bill Long, John and Jack Kahle captured eight wolves 
in a " den" near the present town of Sigel. Wolf-pelts sold for three dollars. 
Wild-cats were numerous ; occasionally a cat is killed in the county yet, even 
within the borough limits. 

One of the modes of Mike Long and other pioneer hunters on the Clarion 
River was to ride a horse with a cow-bell on through the woods over the deer- 
paths. The deer were used to cow-bells and would allow the horse to come 

120 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

in full view. When the deer were looking at the horse, the hunter usually 
shot one or two. 

Every pioneer had one or more cow-bells ; they were made of copper and 




Pennsylvania hear 



iron. They were not cast, but were cut, hammered, and riveted into shape, 
and were of different sizes. 

The black bear was always common in Pennsylvania, and especially was 
this so in our wild portion of the State. He was a great road-maker and king 
of the beasts. The earlv settlers in the northwest killed everv vear in the 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

aggregate hundreds of these bears. Bear-skins wore worth from three to 
five dollars apiece. Reuben lliekox. of Perry Township, Jefferson County, 
as late as 1822, killed over titty hears in three months. Captain Hunt, a 
Muney Indian, living in what is now Brookville, killed sixty-eight in one 
winter. In 1S31, Mrs. McGhee, living in what is now Washington Township, 
heard her pigs squealing, and exclaimed, "The hears are at the hogs!" A 
hired man, Philip McCafferty, and herself each picked up an axe and drove 
the hears away. One pig had been killed. Every fall and winter hears are 
still killed in our forests. 

Peter Yasthinder when a boy shot a big bear through the window of his 
father's house, and this, too, by moonlight. This bear had a scap of bees in 
his arms, and was walking- away with them. The flesh of the bear was prized 
by the pioneer. He was fond of bear meal. Bears weighing- four or rive 
hundred pounds rendered a large amount of oil. which the pioneer housewife 
used in cooking. 

Trapping and pens were resorted to by the pioneer hunters to catch the 
panther, the bear, the wolf, and other game. 

The bear-pen was built in a triangular shape of heavy logs. It was in 
shape and build to work just like a wooden box rabbit-trap. The bear steel- 
trap weighed about twenty-five pounds. It had double springs and spikes 
sharpened in the jaws. A chain was also attached. This was used as a 
panther-trap, too. " The hear was always hard to trap. The cautious brute 
would never put his paw into visible danger, even when allured by the most 
tempting bait If the animal was caught, it had to be accomplished by means 
of the most cunning stratagem. One successful method of catching this 
cautious beast was to conceal a strong trap in the ground covered with leaves 
or earth, and suspend a quarter of a sheep or deer from a tree above the 
hidden steel. The bait being just beyond the reach of the bear, would cause 
the animal to stand on his hind feet and try to get the meat. While thus 
rampant, the unsuspecting brute would sometimes step into the trap and 
throw the spring. The trap was not fastened to a stake or tree, but attached 
to a long chain, furnished with two or three grab-hooks, which would catch 
to brush and logs, and thus prevent the game from getting away." 

An old settler informs me that in the fall of the year bears became very 
fat from the daily feasts they had on beechnuts and chestnuts, and the occa- 
sional raids they made on the old straw beehives and ripe cornfields. In 
pioneer times the bear committed considerable destruction to the com. He 
would seat himself on his haunches in a corner of the field next to the woods. 
and then, collecting- a sheaf of the cornstalks at a time, would there and then 
enjoy a sumptuous repast. 

NA olves usually hunt in the night, so they, too. were trapped and penned. 
The wolf-pen was built of small round logs about eight or ten feet high and 
narrowed at the top. Into this pen the hunter threw his bait, and the wolf 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

could easily jump in, but he was unable to jump out. The wolf-trap was on 
the principle of the rat-trap, only larger, the jaws being a foot or two long. 
Wolves would welcome a domestic dog in their pack, but a dog that clung to 
man, their enemy, they would tear to pieces. 

Glutton or sloth wolverines were very rare in the northwest. They were 
to be found in the most northern tier. The only county reported to have these 
animals in the northwest was Potter County. Joseph Nelson is reported to 
have caught one in a trap in 1858, and one is reported to have been killed by 
J. P. Nelson in 1863. Wolverines were found in Mercer County in 1846. 

Trappers rated the fox the hardest animal to trap, the wolf next, and the 
otter third. To catch a fox they often made a bed of chaff and got him to lie 
in it or fool around it, the trap being set under the chaff. Or a trap was set at 
a place where several foxes seemed to stop for a certain purpose. Or a fox 
could be caught sometimes by putting a bait a little way out in the water, and 
then putting a pad of moss between the bait and the shore, with the trap hid 
under the moss. The fox, not liking to wet his feet, would step on the moss 
and be caught. 

I HE AMERICAN ELK — DEER AND DEER COMBATS HUNTERS, PROFESSIONAL AND 

NON-PROFESSIONAL STALKING AND BELLING DEER OTHER ANIMALS, 

ETC. 

The American elk is the largest of all the deer kind. Bill Long and other 
noted hunters killed elks in these woods seven feet high. The early hunters 
found their range to be from Elk Licks on Spring Creek, that empties into the 
Clarion River at what is now called " Hallton," up to and around Beech 
Bottom. In winter these heavy-footed animals always "yarded" themselves 
on the " Beech Bottom" for protection from their enemies, — the light-footed 
wolves. The elk's trot was heavy, clumsy, and swinging, and would break 
through an ordinary crust on the snow; but in the summer-time he would 
throw his great antlers back on his shoulders and trot through the thickets at a 
Nancy Planks gait, even over fallen timber five feet high. One of his reasons 
for locating on the Clarion River was that he was personally a great bather 
and enjoyed spending his summers on the banks and the sultry days in bathing 
in that river. Bill Long presented a pair of enormous elk-horns, in 1838, to 
John Smith, of Brookville, who used them as a sign for the Jefferson Inn. 

In looking over old copies of the Elk County Advocate I find advertise- 
ments something like this: 

"Hunters. — Several young fawns arc wanted, for which a liberal price 
will be given. Enquire at this office." 

In some of the old papers Caleb Dill, of Ridgway, advertised for elks: 
" For a living male elk one year old I will give $50; two years old. $75; 

123 



HlsiVKY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

three years old, $ioo; and for a fawn three months old. $35." Elks were 
easily tamed, 

" The common Virginia white-tailed door, once exceedingly numerous in 
the northwest is still to be found in limited numbers. This deer when loping 
or running elevates its tail, showing' the long- white hair of the lower surface. 
It the animal is struck by a bullet the tail is almost invariably tucked elose to 
the ham, concealing the white. 

AH deer kind who have branch horns, with one exception, shod their 
antlers annually every February or March, and have them completely restored 
by August of the same year. 

" rite American deer, common door, or just deer, is peculiar to Penn- 
s\ vania. It diners from the three well-known European species, — the red 
deer, the fallow deer, and the pretty little roe. Of these threw the red deer 
is the only one which can stand comparison with the American. 

" The bucks have antlers peculiar in many cases, double sharp, erect 

- v,s or tines rhe doe lacks those antlers. The antlers on the bucks are 

shed and renewed annually. Soon after the old antlers fall, swellings, like 

tumors covered with plush, appear; these increase in size and assume the 

shape of the antlers with astonishing rapidity, until the new antlers have 

.".ted their full sire, when they present the appearance of an ordinary pair 

. itlers covered with fine velvet. The covering, or 'velvet." is tilled with 

. --. s, which supply material for the new growth. The furrows in the 

co nplete antler show the course of the circulation during its formation, and 

no sonnet > the building process completed than the * velvet" begins to wither 

op, Now the buck realizes that he is fully armed and equipped for 

the fierce joustings which must ... the possession of the does of his fa> 

gt \ busies ' self in testing his new weapons and in putting a 

oUsht 1 even inch of them. He bangs and rattles his horn dag g< - 

stc . . ees and thrusts and swings them into dense, strong shrubs, 

served di g s honing-up process he frequently seems a dis- 

reput '-'. to b >g beast, with h g - samersofbk - tained ' velvet' hang g 

shtxl antlers with points as sharp as knives. 
When the last nib has been g - . ■• . ry beam and tine is furbished thor- 

g . . - . ■. w Doing with the K\st of them. He trails the c 
te covers an< along .. runways unceasingly; h. 5 

- g asks w airer chance than to me. i . 

as himself. H« neets . ong 

. trygn tuck s on the warpath, and when the pair fall foul of each other 
ther. > g ... x .... conxbat, in which one gladiator must 

be . g ... •. . . . . . . ight savag* ccas . 

two g 3 .... - managing to get their an: . - 

sect . .. . s. . .'.- must perish. Twv ... acks thus xke< 

head have he* ng as : . .1 in an open glade, where the 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

scarred surface of the ground and the crushed and riven shrubs about told an 
eloquent tale of a wild tourney long sustained, and of miserable failing efforts 
of the wearied conqueror to free himself of his dead foe." — Outing. The 
Yastbinders, Longs, and all the early hunters found just such skulls in these 
woods. 

Artificial deer-licks were numerous, and made in this way : A hunter 
would take a coffee-sack and put in it about half a bushel of common salt, and 
then suspend the sack high on the branch of a tree. When the rain descended 
the salt water would drip from the sack to the ground, making the earth saline 
and damp, and to this spot the deer would come, paw and lick the earth. The 
hunter usually made his blind in this way : A piece of board had two auger- 
holes bored in each end, and with ropes through these holes was fastened to a 
limb on a tree. On this board the hunter seated himself to await his game. 
Deer usually visit licks from about 2 a.m. until daylight. As a rule, deer feed 
in the morning and evening and ramble around all night seeking a thicket for 
rest and seclusion in the daytime. 

" For ways that were dark and for tricks that were vain" the old pioneer 
was always in it. When real hungry for a venison steak he would often use 
a tame deer as a decoy, in this way : Fawns were captured when small, tamed, 
reared, and permitted to run at large with the cattle. A life insurance was 
" written" on this tame deer by means of a bell or a piece of red flannel fastened 
around the neck. Tame deer could be trained to follow masters, and when 
taken to the woods usually fed around and attracted to their society wild deer, 
which could then be shot by the secreted hunter. At the discharge of a gun 
the tame deer invariably ran up to her master. Some of these does were kept 
for five or six years. Deer generally have two fawns at a time, in May, and 
sometimes three. 

Love of home is highly developed in the deer. You cannot chase him away 
from it. He will circle round and round, and every evening come to where 
he was born. He lives in about eight or ten miles square of his birthplace. 
In the wilds of swamps and mountains and laurel-brakes he has his " roads," 
beaten paths, and " crossings," like the civilized and cross roads of man. 
When hounded by dogs he invariably strikes for a creek or river, and it is 
his practice to take one of these " travelled paths," which he never leaves nor 
forgets, no matter how circuitous the path may be. Certain crossings on 
these paths where the deer will pass are called in sporting parlance " stands." 
These " stands" never change, unless through the clearing of timber or by 
settlement the old landmarks are destroyed. 

" The deer loves for a habitation to wander over hills, through thick 
swamps or open woods, and all around is silence save what noise is made by 
the chirping birds and wild creatures like himself. He loves to feed a little 
on the lowlands and then browse on the high ground. It takes him a long 
time to make a meal, and no matter how much of good food there may be in 

125 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

any particular place, he will not remain there to thoroughly satisfy his appe- 
tite. He must roam about and eat over a great deal of territory. When he 
has browsed and fed till he is content, he loves to pose behind a clump of 
bushes and watch and listen. At such times he stands with head up as stanch 
as a setter on point, and if one watches him closely not a movement of his 
muscles will be detected. He sweeps the country before him with his keen 
eyes, and his sharp ears will be disturbed by the breaking of a twig anywhere 
within gunshot. 




Deer and fawn ill Mahoning Creek 
" Sparkling and bright, in its liquid light, was the water.' 1 

" When the day is still the deer is confident he can outwit the enemy who 
tries to creep up on him with shot-gun or rifle. But when the wind blows, he 
fears to trust himself in those places where he may easily be approached by 
man, so he hides in the thickets and remains very quiet until night. To kill 
a deer on a still day, when he is not difficult to find, the hunter must match 
the deer in cunning and must possess a marked degree of patience. The deer, 
conscious of his own craftiness, wanders slowly through the woods ; but he 
does not go far before he stops, and like a statue he stands, and can only be 
made out by the hunter with a knowledge of his ways and a trained eye. 

126 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" The deer listens for a footfall. Should the hunter be anywhere within 
the range of his ear and step on a twig, the deer is off with a bound. He 
does not stop until he has reached what he regards as a safe locality in which 
to look and listen again. A man moving cautiously behind a clump of bushes 
anywhere within the sweep of his vision will start him off on the run, for he 
is seldom willing to take even a small chance against man. Should the 
coast be clear, the deer will break his pose, browse and wander about again, 
and finally make his bed under the top of a fallen tree or in some little thicket. 

" To capture the deer by the still-hunting method, the hunter must know 
his ways and outwit him at his own game. First of all, the still-hunter wears 
soft shoes, and when he puts his foot on the ground he is careful not to set it 
on a twig which will snap and frighten any deer that may be in the vicinity. 
The still-hunter proceeds at once to put into practice the very system which 
the deer has taught him. Pie strikes a pose. He listens and looks. A deer 
standing like a statue two hundred yards away is not likely to be detected by 
an inexperienced hunter, but the expert is not deceived. He has learned to 
look closely into the detail of the picture before him, and he will note the dif- 
ference between a set of antlers and a bush. 

" The brown sides of a deer are very indistinct when they have for a 
background a clump of brown bushes. But the expert still-hunter sits quietly 
on a log and peers into the distance steadily, examining all details before him. 
Occasionally his fancy will help him to make a deer's haunch out of a hump 
on a tree, or he will fancy he sees an antler mixed with the small branches 
of a bush, but his trained eye finally removes all doubt. But he is in no hurry. 
He is like the deer, patient, keen of sight, and quick of hearing. He knows 
that if there are any deer on their feet in his vicinity he will get his eyes on 
them if he takes the time, or if he waits long enough he is likely to see them 
on the move. At all events, he must see the deer first. Then he must get 
near enough to him to bring him down with his rifle." — Outing. 

Deer will not run in a straight line. They keep their road, and it is this 
habit they have of crossing hills, paths, woods, and streams, almost invariably 
within a few yards of the same spot, that causes their destruction by the 
hounding and belling methods of farmers, lumbermen, and other non-profes- 
sionals. Deer-licks were numerous all over this county. A " deer-lick" is a 
place where salt exists near the surface of the earth. The deer find these 
spots and work them during the night, generally in the early morning. One 
of the methods of our early settlers was to sit all night on or near a tree, 
" within easy range of a spring or a ' salt-lick,' and potting the unsuspecting 
deer which may happen to come to the lick in search of salt or water. This 
requires no more skill than an ability to tell from which quarter the breeze 
is blowing and to post one's self accordingly, and the power to hit a deer when 
the gun is fired from a dead rest." 

"' Belling deer" was somewhat common. I have tried my hand at it. 

127 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

The mode was this : Three men were located at proper distances apart along 
a trail or runway near a crossing. The poorest marksman was placed so as 
to have the first shot, and the two good ones held in reserve for any accidental 
attack of " buck fever" to the persons on the first and second stands. An 
experienced woodsman was then sent into a laurel thicket, carrying with him 
a cow-bell ; and when this woodsman found and started a deer, he followed 
it, ringing the bell. The sound of this bell was notice to those on the " stand" 
of the approach of a deer. When the animal came on the jump within shooting 
distance of the first stand, the hunter there posted would bleat like a sheep ; 
the deer would then come to a stand-still, when the hunter could take good 
aim at it; the others had to shoot at the animal running. The buck or doe 
rarely escaped this gauntlet. 

" The deer was always a coveted prize among hunters. No finer dish than 
venison ever graced the table of king or peasant. No more beautiful trophy 
has ever adorned the halls of the royal sportsman or the humble cabin of the 
lowly hunter on the wild frontier than the antlers of the fallen buck. The 
sight of this noble animal in his native state thrills with admiration alike the 
heart of the proudest aristocrat and the rudest backwoodsman. In the days 
when guns were rare and ammunition very costly, hunters set stakes for deer, 
where the animal had been in the habit of jumping into or out of fields. A 
piece of hard timber, two or three inches thick and about four feet long, was 
sharpened into a spear shape, and then driven firmly into the ground at the 
place where the deer were accustomed to leap over the log fence. The stake 
was slanted toward the fence, so as to strike the animal in the breast as it 
leaped into or out of the fields. Several of these deadly wooden spears were 
often set at the same crossing, so as to increase the peril of the game. If the 
deer were seen in the field, a scare would cause them to jump over the fence 
with less caution, and thus often a buck would impale himself on one of the 
fatal stakes, when but for the sight of the hunter the animal might have 
escaped unhurt. Thousands of deer were killed or crippled in this way gen- 
erations ago." — Outing. 

A deer-skin sold in those days for seventy-five to ninety cents. Of the 
original wild animals still remaining in Northwestern Pennsylvania, there are 
the fox, raccoon, porcupine, musk-rat, martin, otter, mink, skunk, opossum, 
woodchuck, rabbit, squirrel, mole, and mouse. Fifty years ago the woods 
were full of porcupines. On the defensive is the only way he ever fights. 
When the enemy approaches he rolls up into a little wad, sharp quills out, 
and he is not worried about how many are in the besieging party. One prick 
of his quills will satisfy any assailant. When he sings his blood-curdling 
song, it is interpreted as a sign of rain. 

" In fact, when a porcupine curls himself up into the shape of a ball he 
is safe from the attack of almost any animal, for his quills are long enough 
to prevent his enemy from getting near enough to bite him. 

128 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" Their food is almost entirely vegetable, consisting of the inner bark of 
trees, tender roots, and twigs. They are fond, however, of the insects and 
worms found in the bark of pines and hemlocks. 

" Provided with powerful jaws and long, sharp teeth, the porcupine gnaws 
with great speed, stripping the bark from an old tree as though he were 
provided with weapons of steel. Often he seems to tear in a spirit of sheer 
destructiveness, without pausing to eat the bark or to search for insects. 
This is more especially true with the old males. 

" The porcupine is not a wily beast. He establishes paths or runways 
through the forest, and from these he never deviates if he can help it. What 
is more, he is exceedingly greedy, and stops to investigate every morsel in 
his way. 

" A trap set in the middle of a runway and baited with a turnip rarely fails 
to catch him." The hunters liked them cooked. 




Porcupine 



The wholesale prices of furs in 1804 were: Otter, one dollar and a half 
to four dollars ; bear, one to three dollars and a half ; beaver, one to two 
dollars and a half ; martin, fifty cents to one dollar and a half ; red fox, one 
dollar to one dollar and ten cents ; mink, twenty to forty cents ; muskrat, 
twenty-five to thirty cents ; raccoon, twenty to fifty cents ; deer-pelts, seventy- 
five cents to one dollar. 

The pioneer hunter carried his furs and pelts to the Pittsburg market in 
canoes, where he sold them to what were called Indian traders from the East. 
In later years traders visited the cabins of our hunters in the northwest, and 
bartered for and bought the furs and pelts from the hunters or from our 
merchants. 

Old William Yastbinder, a noted hunter and trapper in this wilderness, 
and pioneer in Jefferson County, was quite successful in trapping wolves 
one season on Hunt's Run, about the year 1819 or 1820; but for some un- 
known reason his success suddenly stopped, and he could not catch a single 
9 i^9 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

wolf. He then suspected the Indians of robbing his traps. So one morning 
bright and early he visited his traps and found no wolf, but did find an 
Indian track. He followed the Indian trail and lost it. On looking around 
he heard a voice from above, and looking up he saw an Indian sitting in the 
fork of a tree, and the Indian said, " Now, you old rascal, you go home, Ol 1 
Bill, or Indian shoot." With the Indian's flint-lock pointed at him, Vastbinder 
immediately became quite hungry and started home for an early breakfast. 

Bill Long often sold to pedlers fifty deer-pelts at a single sale. He had 
hunting shanties in all sections and quarters of this wilderness. 

In 1850 the late John Du Bois, founder of Du Bois City, desired to locate 
some lands near Boone's Mountain. So he took Bill Long with him, and the 
two took up a residence in a shanty of Long's near the head-waters of Rattle- 
snake Run, in what is now Snyder Township. After four or five days' rusti- 
cating, the provisions gave out, and Du Bois got hungry. Long told him 
there was nothing to eat here and for him to leave for Bundy's. On his way 
from the shanty to Bundy's Mr. Du Bois killed five deer. 

George Smith, a Washington Township early hunter, who is still (1898) 
living in the wilds of Elk County, has killed in this wilderness fourteen pan- 
thers, five hundred bears, thirty elks, three thousand deer, five hundred cata- 
mounts, five hundred wolves, and six hundred wild-cats. He has killed seven 
deer in a day and as many as five bears in a clay. Mr. Smith has followed 
hunting as a profession for sixty years. 

CATAMOUNT 1SEY LYNX 

The catamount is larger than the wild-cat. They have been killed in 
this forest six and seven feet long from tip of nose to end of tail. They have 
tufts on their ear-tips, and are often mistaken for panthers. 

MINK 

" The mink is an expert at swimming and diving, and able to remain long 
under water, where it pursues and catches fish, which it frequently destroys 
in large numbers. 

" The mink does much damage to poultry, especially chickens and ducks. 
Various kinds of wild birds, particularly ground-nesting species, crayfish, 
frogs, and reptiles are included in the dietary of the mink ; and it is also 
learned from the testimony of different writers and observers that the eggs of 
domestic fowls are often taken by these nocturnal plunderers. 

" The average weight of an adult mink is about two pounds, and for an 
animal so small it is astonishing to observe its great strength." 

WILD-CAT — BOB-CAT 

" The wild-cat inhabits forests, rock}' ledges, and briery thickets, but its 
favorite place is in old slashings and bark peelings, where in the impenetrable 

130 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

and tangled recesses it is comparatively safe from pursuit, and is also able to 
prey upon many varieties of animals which have a permanent or temporary 
residence in such unfrequented wilds. 

" The wild-cat subsists entirely on a flesh diet, and the damage this species 
does in destroying poultry, lambs, and young pigs of farmers who reside in 
the sparsely settled mountainous regions is not in any degree compensated by 
the destruction of other small wild animals which molest the farmer's crops 
or his poultry." 

Wild-cats hunt both by day and by night. A whole family of them will 
hunt and run down a deer, especially on crusted snow. 

" The wild-cat usually makes its domicile or nest in a hollow tree or log. 
The nest is well lined with leaves, moss, and lichens, called commonlv ' hair 




Wild-cat 

moss.' The nest is also sometimes found in rocky ledges and caves. From 
two to four constitute a litter. It is stated that the young are brought forth 
in the middle of May. Wild-cats may be caught in traps baited with rabbits, 
chicken, grouse, or fresh meat." 

THE RIVER OTTER 

Our otter was about four feet long, as I recollect him, very heavy and 
strong; usually weighed about twenty-three pounds, was web-footed, a fisher 
by occupation, and could whip or kill any dog. On land he had his beaten 
paths. Big fish eat little fish, little fish eat shrimps, and shrimps eat mud. 

131 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Otters ate all kinds of fish, but preferred the speckled trout. Like other 
animals, otters had their plays and playgrounds. They were fond of strength 
contests, two or more pulling at the end of a stick something like our " square 
pull." They made slides, and frolicked greatly in winter time, sliding down 
hill. They made their slides in this wise : By plunging into the water, then 
running up a hill and letting the water drip from them to freeze on the slide. 




They lived in excavations on the creek or river bank close to the water. They 
were hunted and trapped by men for their pelts. John Long, a noted hunter, 
told me that the most terrific contest he ever had with a wild animal was with 
an otter near Brookville. 

THE FOX 

In pioneer times we had in this wilderness the gray, the cross, and the 
red fox. The gray is now extinct in the northwest, as he can only live in 
solitude or in a forest. The red fox still lingers in our civilization. Six 
varieties of foxes are said to be found in the United States, and it is claimed 
they are all cousins of the wolf. But notwithstanding this relationship, the 
wolf used to hunt and eat all the foxes he could catch. The wolf's persistence 
in hunting, and endurance in the race, enabled him at times to overcome the 
rleetness of the fox. The gray and red fox were about three and one-half 
feet long. The red fox is the most daring, cunning-, and intellectual of all the 
varieties. You cannot tame him. The term " foxy" originated in connection 
with him. The red fox has from four to eight puppies in April, and these, 
like little dogs, are born blind. The red fox has the astounding faculty of 
creating deep-laid schemes to deceive and thwart his enemies. He is the only 
animal that will match his intelligence against man. and the onlv way man 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

can best him is by poison. It was not unusual for the red fox to back-track 
in such a way while racing for his life as to follow the hunter, and turn the 
tables from being hunted to being the hunter. He would even feign death — 
allow himself to be kicked or handled, only waiting and watching for an 
opportunity to escape. His tricks to outwit man were many and would fill a 




Red fox 

volume. The fox was very fond of ground-hog eating. Like the bear he 
would dig them out. His presence in a ground-hog neighborhood created 
great consternation. All animals have a cry of alarm, — danger, — and if ob- 
served by any ground-hog he always gave this cry for his neighbors. 



WEASEL 

Both sexes have the power to emit a fluid nearlv as offensive as that of the 
polecat. " A glance at the physiognomy of the weasels would suffice to betray 
their character ; the teeth are almost of the highest known raptorial character ; 
the jaws are worked by enormous masses of muscles covering all the sides of 
the skull ; the forehead is low and the nose is sharp ; the eyes are small, pene- 
trating, cunning, and glitter with an angry green light. There is something 
peculiar, moreover, in the way that this fierce face surmounts a body extraor- 
dinarily wiry, lithe, and muscular. It ends a remarkably long and slender 
neck in such a way that it may be held at right angle with the axis of the 
latter. When the animal is glancing around with the neck stretched up and 

133 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

the flat triangular head bent forward and swaying from one side to the other, 
we catch the likeness in a moment — it is the image of a serpent. 

" His coat changes with the seasons, and while in winter we find it white 
tinted with sulphur yellow, in summer it is on upper parts of a dark brown 
not unlike the coloring of a mink ; on its under parts it is ' white almost in- 
variably tinged with sulphury yellow' (Coues). The tail partakes of the color- 
of the upper parts, except the bushy end, which, in summer and winter alike, 
is black. Its legs are short, with slender feet, and are covered all over with 
fur in winter, but in summer the pads are generally visible. 

" Their homes are frequently to be found in a decayed tree-stump and 
under rocks." He can climb trees with ease. 

" The poultry-yard is frequently visited and his apparently insatiable 
desire for rapine is most clearly shown while on these visits. One chicken 
will satisfy his appetite, but after that is gratified he does not leave; he kills 
and slays without mercy all the remainder of the poor frightened chickens, 
until there are none left and not until then does he leave the scene of carnage. 

" He sucks the eggs also, leaving in some instances the unlucky farmer 
who has unwillingly and unwittingly been his host completely routed as 
regards his efforts in the poultry line." He also feeds on rats and mice. 

THE OPOSSUM 

The opossum is an American animal, about the size of a very large cat, 
eight or ten pounds in weight, twenty inches long, with a prehensile tail, in 
addition, of fifteen inches. There are said to be three varieties, — viz., the Mex- 
ican, Florida, and the Virginia. The last variety is the one found in North- 
western Pennsylvania. They are very prolific, having three litters a year, — 
viz., in March, May, and July, of twelve to sixteen at a time. At birth they 
are naked, blind, and about a half inch long, the mother depositing each one 
with her hands in a pouch or pocket in her abdomen, and there the little 
creature sucks the mother and sleeps for about eight weeks. When full- 
grown they are good tree climbers, making great use of their tail in swinging 
from tree to tree and for other purposes. He is a dull creature, easily domes- 
ticated, and the only intelligence he exhibits is when, like the spider and 
potato-bug, he feigns death. At this he is truly an adept, suffering great 
abuse waiting for a chance to bite or run. All carnivorous animals eat smaller 
ones, so the opossum's enemies are numerous, and he in turn is omnivorous 
and carnivorous, eating everything he can catch that is smaller than himself. 

SQUIRRELS 

The intelligence of some animals is amazing. Many of them seem to 
study us as we study them. The squirrel knew that man was his most dan- 
gerous enemy, and that man killed him and his race for food. In pioneer 
times we had several varieties : the principal ones were the black, twenty- 

1.34 




OPOSSU M 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

two inches long; the gray, eighteen inches long; and the little red, or Hudson 
Bay, about eight inches long. The red was a bold little beast, liked to be 
close to man, full of vice and few virtues. He was industrious in season 
and out. The black and gray were lazy. Whenever a squirrel wanted to 
cross a creek or river, and didn't want to swim, he sailed over on a piece of 
bark or wood, using his brushy tail as a sail and to steer by. The skunk did 
likewise. A single pair of squirrels would inhabit the same tree for years. 
They had three or four young at a litter. The red or Hudson Bay squirrel 
was the king of all the squirrels in this forest; although not more than eight 
inches long, he was the complete master of all the squirrels. The black and 
gray were as afraid of him as death. With an intellect surprising, he would 




Squirrel 

chase and capture the black and gray and castrate them, then, in exultation, 
scold or chickaree to his heart's content. 

In pioneer times, every seven or eight years, at irregular intervals in 
summer, a great army of black and gray squirrels invaded this wilderness 
from the northwest ; a host that no man could number. They were travelling 
east in search of food. Hundreds of them were killed daily by other animals 
and by man. 

In these pioneer times crows and squirrels were such a menace to the 
crops of the farmer in Western Pennsylvania that an act was passed by the 
Legislature to encourage the killing of squirrels in certain parts of this 
Commonwealth. The pioneer act was passed March 4. 1807, giving a bounty 

135 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

of three cents for each crow scalp and one com and a halt for each squirrel 
scalp; these scalps to be received in lieu of money for taxes, if delivered to 
the county treasurer before the tst day of November of each year. 

The first act covered Bedford, Washington, Westmoreland. Armstrong'. 
Indiana. Fayette, and Green Counties. This law was extended in tSii, on the 
1,5th of February, to Butler, Franklin, Mercer, Venango, Somerset. Lycoming. 
Crav tord. and Erie Counties, 

One of tlie cntest things that the red squirrel did was to tap sugar-trees 
for the sap. He would chisel with his teeth a trough on the top of a limb. 
and as fast as the trough would till with the water he would return and 
drink it. 

In the fall of the year a squirrel would hide acorns and nuts outside of 
his nest, where others of his kind could not easily find the fruit, then in mid- 
winter, whet) he became hungry, he would leave his eosey nest and go a long- 
distance through the snow to the identical spot where he had buried his fruit. 
dig it up, and enjoy his meal. 

XAVVK.W LIFE OF SOME OF OCR WILD ANO DOMESTIC AMY. \ - 

1 . - Vo&tS 

50 Hog so 

. *er jo Wolf 15 

Panther as Cat 15 

amount 13 \ 15 

\\!o v )og to 

Co\s 20 Sheep .0 

l lorse jo Squirrel f 

Bear v \ - 

l\x-r v 



V.1S1V5 

" It a bird's nest chance to be before thee in the way in any tree, 01 

the ground, whether they be young ones, oi eggs, and the dam sitting- upon 

the young, or upon the eggs, thou shah not take the dam with the young: 

- anywise let the dam g. and rake the young to thee; that it 

be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days." — Dent. 

\xii. 

With th« ,\.. the wild turkey and raven, which are now about 

. \. . we have almost the .-..-. . irds here that lived and sang 

in this wilderness when the Barnel s setth i Creek. Some of these 

ginal birds are m- sea ... We have one new bird. — viae, the English 

. . ■ . ig birds it might be propel give a few sketches 

3 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

THE RAVEN 

\ very handsome bird, numerous here in pioneer times, now extinct in 
[efferson County, but siill to be Eound in about twenty northern counties of 

the Stale. lie built his nest on the tallest pine : trees. lie belonged to the 
crow family, lie luul a wonderful intellect, lie could learn to talk cor- 
rectly, ami was a very apt scholar; he was easily tamed, and would follow 
like a dog. lie lived to an extreme old age, probably one hundred years, 
lie was blue-black, like the common crow, lie made his home in the solitude 
of the forest, preferring the wildest and most hilly sections. In such regions, 
owing to his intellect and strength, his supremacy was never questioned, 
unless by the eaffle. lie understood fire-arms and could count five. In the 




fall of the year he would feast on the saddles of venison the hunters would 
hang on a tree, and the Longs adopted this method to save their meat : Take 
a small piece of muslin, wet it, and rub it all over with gunpowder; sharpen 
a stick and pin this cloth to the venison. The raven and crow would smell 
this powder and keep away from the venison. He was a mischievous bird of 
rare intelligence. He looked inquiringly at you, as if he understood you. 
When full grown he measured twenty-two or twenty-six inches from tip of 
nose to end of tail. In Greenland white ones have been seen. The eggs were 
from two to seven, colored, and about two inches long. 



Till-: " BALD EAGLE, OUR NATIONAL EMBLEM 
The name " Bald" which is given to this species is not applied because 
the head is bare, hut because the feathers of the neck and head of adults are 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

pure white. In Northwestern Pennsylvania, as well as throughout the United 
States, we had but two species of eagles, the bald and the golden. The 
" Black," " Gray," and " Washington" eagles are but the young of the bald 
eagle. Three years, it is stated, are required before this species assumes the 
adult plumage. The bald eagle is still found in Pennsylvania at all seasons 



^K '■*, 




Bald eagle 

of the year. I have seen some that measured eight feet from tip to tip of 
wing. 

" The nest, a bulky affair, built usually on a large tree, mostly near the 
water, is about four or five feet in diameter. It is made up chiefly of large 
sticks, lined inside with grass, leaves, etc. The eggs, commonly two, rarely 
three, are white, and they measure about three by two and a half inches. A 
favorite article of food with this bird is fish, which he obtains mainly by 
strategy and rapine. Occasionally, however, according to different observers, 
the bald eagle will do his own fishing. Geese and brant form their favorite 
food, and the address displayed in their capture is very remarkable. The 
poor victim has apparently not the slightest chance for escape. The eagle's 

138 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

flight, ordinarily slow and somewhat heavy, becomes, in the excitement of 
pursuit, exceedingly swift and graceful, and the fugitive is quickly over- 
taken. When close upon its quarry the eagle suddenly sweeps beneath it, 
and turning back downward, thrusts its powerful talons up into its breast. 
A brant or duck is carried off bodily to the nearest marsh or sand-bar. But 
a Canada goose is too heavy to be thus easily disposed of; the two great 
birds fall together to the water beneath, while the eagle literally tows his 
prize along the surface until the shore is reached. In this way one has been 
known to drag a large goose for nearly half a mile. 

" The bald eagle occasionally devours young pigs, lambs, and fawns. 
Domestic fowls, wild turkeys, hares, etc., are also destroyed by this species. 




Wild turkey 



I have knowledge of at least two of these birds which have killed poultry 
(tame ducks and turkeys) along the Susquehanna River. Sometimes, like the 
golden eagle, this species will attack raccoons and skunks. I once found two 
or three spines of a porcupine in the body of an immature bald eagle. The 
golden eagle occurs in this State as a winter visitor. The only species with 
which it is sometimes compared is the bald eagle in immature dress. The 
two birds, however, can be distinguished at a glance, if you remember that 
the golden eagle has the tarsus (shin) densely feathered to the toes, while, 
on the other hand, the bald eagle has a bare shin. The golden eagle breeds in 
high mountainous regions and the Arctic countries. 

139 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" Golden eagles are rather rare in this region, hence their depreciations 
to poultry, game, and live-stock occasion comparatively little loss. Domestic 
fowls, clucks, and turkeys especially, are often devoured ; different species of 
water-birds, grouse, and wild turkeys suffer chiefly among the game birds. 
Fawns are sometimes attacked and killed ; occasionally it destroys young pigs, 
and frequently many lambs are carried off by this powerful bird. Rabbits are 
preyed upon to a considerable extent." 

Of our birds, the eagle is the largest, swiftest in flight, and keenest-eyed, 
the humming-bird the smallest, the coot the slowest, and the owl the dullest. 

The spring birds, such as the bluebird, the robin, the sparrow, and the 
martin, were early to come and late to leave. 

" Migrating birds fly over distances so great that they must needs have 
great strength as well as great speed in flight. Bobolinks often rear their 
young on the shores of Lake Winnipeg, and, like true aristocrats, go to 
Cuba and Porto Rico to spend the winter. To do this their flight must twice 
cover a distance of more than two thousand eight hundred miles, or more 
than a fifth of the circumference of the earth, each year. 

" The little redstart travels three thousand miles twice a year, and the 
tiny humming-bird two thousand. What wonderful mechanism it is that in 
a stomach no larger than a pea will manufacture its own fuel from two or 
three slim caterpillars, a fly, a moth, or a spider, and use it with such economy 
as to be able to propel itself through the air during the whole night at a rate 
of about fifty miles per hour, and at the same time keep its own temperature 
at about one hundred and four degrees." 

I reproduce from Olive Thorne Miller's Lectures the following, — viz. : 

" There are matrimonial quarrels also among birds. As a rule, the female 
is queen of the nest, but once I saw a male sparrow assert his power. He was 
awfully angry, and tried to oust his spouse from a hole in a maple-tree in 
which they had made their home. He did drive her out at last, and absolutely 
divorced her, for he was back before long with a bride whom, with some 
trouble and a good many antics, he coaxed to accept the nest. 

" The female bird is the queen of the home, and usually selects the place 
for the nest, the male bird sometimes lending a beak in building it, but most 
of the time singing his sweet song to encourage his mate. 

" That the female is queen is shown by a little story related of a sparrow. 
She was hatching her eggs, and was relieved now and then by her mate while 
she went off for exercise and food. One day the male bird was late and the 
female called loudly for him. He came at last, and she gave him an unmer- 
ciful drubbing, which he took without a murmur. Thoroughly ashamed of 
himself, he sat down meekly on the eggs. 

" The robin is the most familiar of our birds. Running over the lawns, 
with head down, it suddenly grabs a worm, which it shakes as a cat does a 
mouse. Having swallowed it, the robin looks up with infinite pride. They 

140 




BLUE JAY 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

are great insect-destroyers, though they insist on having the* frliest spring 
peas and the first mulberries, raspberries, and grapes. The robin is the great 
cue my of the bird observer, giving warning of his approach to every bird in 
the neighboring thickets. They are brave, and will help any bird in distress. 
A sparrow-hawk had seized an English sparrow, one of the robin's worst 
enemies, but the robin attacked the hawk so viciously that it released the 
sparrow. In another instance a cat had captured a young robin, but was so 
fearlessly attacked by an older bird that she parted with her tender meal and 
sought shelter under the barn. 

" The robins make charming but most mischievous pets. I heard of a 
case where a child helped bring up a brood of these birds. When they were 
fledged they would follow her about the yard like a flock of chickens. The 
woodpecker, robin, and many other ', ' have very acute hearing. Did you 
ever see one of these birds cock his head and listen for the sounds of a worm ? 

" The wood-thrush or wood-robin is of a shy and retiring nature, fre- 
quenting thick woods and tangled undergrowth, and at daybreak and sundown 
this bird carols forth its thankfulness for a day begun and a day ended. The 
nest is made in some low tree, with little or no mud in its composition, and 
contains from four to six eggs. The veery, or tawny thrush, is a wonderful 
songster, but a most retiring bird. 

" The American cuckoo, unlike her English cousin, builds her own nest, 
and is a most devoted parent. These birds, with white breast, arc numerous 
here in the summer, and the male bird's courting is most grotesque. After 
each note he makes a profound bow to the mate, and then opens his mouth 
as wide as possible, as if about to emit a loud cry, but only the feeblest of 
' coos' can be heard. 

" The blue-jay, though one of our best-known birds, is greatly misunder- 
stood. It is said he is always quarrelling and fighting, whereas really he is 
only full of frolic and mischief and is a most affectionate bird, and instead of 
tyrannizing over other birds is most kind to them. These birds have shared 
a room with a dozen others much smaller than themselves and were never 
known to molest them. They will defend their young against all comers, and 
James Russell Lowell tells a story of discovering three young birds who were 
held to their nest by a string, in which they had got entangled. He deter- 
mined to cut them loose. The old birds flew at him at first, but on learning 
what his object was, sat quietly within reach of him, watching the operation, 
and when the birds were released noisily thanked him. 

" A story is told of the frolicsomeness of this bird. One was seated on 
a fence-rail, and two kittens, having espied him, essayed to stalk him. They 
got up near him ; then he began playing leap-frog over those two kittens 
until they returned full of offended dignity to the house. The bird tried to 
coax them out to a game several times afterwards, but the kittens had had 
enough of it. 

141 



•/ 

HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

'£/ , . 
" The IcT bird is said to fight and drive away every bird that comes 

near it, but this is a libel. He attends to his own business almost wholly, and 

though not particularly social, is no more belligerent in the bird world than 

most birds are when they have nests to protect. He is a character, and 

interesting to watch. 

" The shrike, or butcher-bird, has imputed to him the worst character of 
any of our birds. He' is not only accused of killing birds, but of impaling 
them afterwards on thorns. That he does kill birds is undoubted, but only 
when other food is scarce, for he much prefers field-mice, grasshoppers, and 
other noxious insects. That he impales his prey is certain, and the reason 
for this is, I think, that he has such small, delicate feet that they are not 
strong enough to hold down a mouse or insect while he tears it to pieces. 

" Blackbirds are gregarious, forming blackbird cities in the tops of trees. 
He and the fishhawk have a strange friendship for one another, often three 
or four pairs building their nests in the straggling outskirts of the hawk's 
large nest, and they unite in protecting one another. 

" The red-winged blackbirds are the most independent of birds, as far as 
the two sexes are concerned. The dull brown-streaked females come up in 
flocks some time after the males have arrived, and as soon as the breeding 
season is over they separate again, the males keeping to the marshes, while 
the females seek shelter in the uplands, but always near water. They nest 
in marshy places, and insist on plenty of water. 

" The cowbird is undoubtedly the most unpopular of this class of birds, 
simply from the fact that no nest is built, the egg always being placed in the 
nest of some vireo, warbler, or sparrow, and the rearing of one of these birds 
means the loss of at least two song-birds, for they always smother the rightful 
owners. The popular idea that the foster-parents are unaware of this strange 
egg is doubtful. I believe it to be another instance of the great good nature 
of the birds to the young of any sort. The cowbirds nearly kill with overwork 
whatever birds they have been foisted on. 

" The bobolink, who later in the year becomes the reed- or rice-bird, is a 
handsome bird in his plumage of black and white and buff. The female is a 
quieter-colored bird. While breeding they are voracious insect-eaters, but 
when they get down to the rice marshes it is almost impossible to drive them 
away. A hawk seems to be the only thing they are afraid of. 

" The Baltimore oriole is one of the most beautiful and best-known birds. 
Its long, pendant, woven nest is known to every one, and it is wonderful how 
the bird, with only its beak, can build such a splendid structure. They have 
been known to use-wire in the structure of their nests. 

" The meadow-lark, one. of the largest of this family, is a wonderful 
singer, sitting on a fence-rail, carolling forth its quivering silvery song. All 
these birds, except the oriole, walk while hunting for food, and do not hop 
as most other birds do. 

1-12 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" The crow does not belong to the blackbird family, but owing to his 
uniform I will speak about him. Much has been said against him, but the 
truth is that he is a most useful bird in killing mice, si t^es, lizards, and frogs, 
and is a splendid scavenger. He has been persecuted for so many generations 
that perhaps he is the most knowing and wary of birds. He will always flee 
from a man with a gun, though paying little attention to the ordinary pedes- 
trian. These birds are gregarious in their habits, and make their large, untidy 
nests at the tops of trees. 

" They have regular roosting-places, and, curious to say, it is not first 
come first served. As each flock reaches the sleeping-grove they sit around 
on the ground, and it is only when the last wanderer returns that they all rise 
simultaneously and scramble for nests. Crows as pets are intensely funny." 




A crow can be taught to talk. It is said by bird students that crows have 
a language distinctly their own, and, further, that some of their language 
can be translated into ours. I have often noticed that while a flock of crows 
are feeding on the ground, two sentinels are posted to give an alarm of any 
danger. It is said that if these sentinels fail to perform their duty, the flock 
will execute one or both of them. A friend of mine living about three miles 
from Brookville is very fond of raising crows as pets. I visited him several 
years ago when he had an interesting fellow. This crow used to carry tid- 
bits to the woods to the other crows. When the crows were getting ready 
to migrate in the fall they called this pet one down to the edge of the woods. 
After a talk thev flew on the pet and tore him to pieces. I asked Mr. McAdoo 
why they did that. Mr. McAdoo said he thought it was because the " pet" 
refused to migrate with them. Crows mate for life. A crow knows when 
Sunday comes. 

143 



ills rom 01? NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" In July, when nesting is over, there are nq more frolicsome birds than 
the hiahholes, 01 wo«" Suckers riu-\ are like boVs out of school, and actually 

is * 

seem to pla\ games * s»eaeh other, one that looks very much like ' tag" being 
,i favoi ite 

' rhe young of those birds never cease in their clamor for food, and 
even when tho\ have left their hole nest the\ are fed h\ the parent birds, 

' rhe fee<ling process is a strange one, rhe old one half loses iis long 
hill down the throat of the youngster, and from its crop gives up .1 sufficient 
supply of half digested food foi a full meal. 

' rhe courtship ol these birds is exquisitely quaint, and a correspondent 
has given an account of a game, 01 dance, in which they began with a wait.- 




w.-.-, -, . v. - 

sort and went through various evolutions, ending with crossing 
their beaks, and standing so moment before they drew back and did the 

vvht e . ig over, 

" The down} « >eeker is particularly fond of apple-trees, and though 

v - ■ - -, i enemy of th< orchard, is in reality one of its 

greates ends, Thev tunnel for the worms, and it has been conclusively 

that trees with their holes have long outlived in usefulness 

the trees unvisited by these birds, 

'The clown . , ; is the red-headed woodpecker, which, as well 

- the others shown, is a IVnnsylvanum, and nost original and quaint char- 

»44 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

actor. He lias been studied for many years in Ohio and many of his tricks 
described by Mr. Keyser, of that State. He lays up food for the winter, and 
in places where he lias been accustomed to depend mi the sweet beechnut foi 
provisions he refuses in sta) when the mil crop fails, hni .ii once betaki 
himself to a more inviting region. a. 

" The sapsucker, or yellow-breasted \ idpecker, was shown with his 
mate and a young one, and his characteristics defended against the charge of 
sap sucking, which has been made against him, Sufficient evidence from 
several scientific ornithologists was produced to show that the bird is insec 
tivorous in a great degree, and the small amount oi sap he may drink is well 
paid for by the insects he consumes. 

"The jtmco, or snowbird, is often found in flocks, except in the nesting 
season, Their favorite resting-place is in the roots of trees thai have been 
blown over. That birds are considerate of one another is certain. I know 
of a case where a family had fed a dock of (uncos during a long spell of cold 
weather. They got so tame that they would come up to the sloop In he fed; 
hut it was noticed thai one bird always remained on the fence and the other 
ones fed it. < )n examination, it was found thai the bird had an injured 

wing, and in case of sudden danger would not have been able to leave with 
the Hock ill the rush, so it was left in a place of safety ami fed. 

" The snow bunting is to he scon in our pari of the world only in blizzard 
times, or when there are snow-scurries around." Miller. 

oh' HAWKS 

The red-shouldered hawk, called by farmers and hunters the hen-hawk, 
nests in trees in April or May. The eggs are two to four, while and blotched, 
with shades of brown. The nest is built id" sticks, hark, etc. 

The goshawk was a regular breeder in our woods and mountains. Me is 
a fierce and powerful bird. The hawk feeds upon wild turkeys, pheasants, 
ducks, chickens, robins, rabbits, and squirrels. The cooper-hawk, known as 
the long-tailed chicken-hawk, is an audacious poultry thief, capturing full- 
grown chickens. This hawk also feeds upon pigeons, pheasants, turkeys, and 
squirrels. This bird nests about May in thick woods, the nest containing 
four or live eggs. In about twelve weeks the young are able to care for 
themselves. The sharp-shinned hawk bears a close resemblance to the cooper, 
hut feeds by choice upon young chickens and pullets, young turkeys, young 
rabbits, and squirrels. If a pair of these birds should nest near a cabin where 
chickens were being raised, in a very few days they would steal every one, 

When 1 was a boy large nestings of wild (passenger) pigeons in wdiat 
was then Jenks, Tionesta, and Ridgway Townships occurred every spring. 
These big roosts were occupied annually early in April each year. Millions 
of pigeons occupied these roosts, and they were usually four or five miles 
long and from one to three miles wide. No other bird was ever known to 
io 145 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

migrate in such numbers. They fed on beechnuts, etc. In this territory 
every tree would be occupied, some with fifty nests. These pigeons swept 
over Brookville on their migration to these roosts, and would be three or four 
days in passing, making the day dark at times. The croakings of the pigeons 
in these roosts could be heanS -• miles. 

'Vili 




Red-sliouldered hawk 



The coopers and the bloody goshawk, the great-horned and barred owls, 
like other night wanderers, such as the wild bear, panther, wolf, wild-cat, 
lynx, fox, the mink, and agile weasel, all haunted these roosts and feasted 
upon these. pigeons. The weasel would climb the tree for the pigeons' eggs 
and the young, or to capture the old birds when at rest. The fox. lynx, mink, 
etc., depended on catching the squabs that fell from the nests. 

Like the buffaloes of this region, the wild pigeon is doomed. These once 
common birds are only to be seen occasionally. Isolated and scattered pairs 
still find a breeding-place in our wilds, but the immense breeding colonies 
that once visited Northwestern Pennsylvania will never be seen again. The 
extermination of the passenger pigeon has gone on so rapidly that in another 

146 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

decade the birds may become a rarity. The only thing that will save the 
birds from this fate is the fact that they no longer resort to the more thickly 
populated States as breeding-places, but fly far into the woods along our 
northern border. Thirty years ago wild pigeons were found in- New York 
State, and in Elk, Warren, McKean, Pike, and Cameron Counties, Pennsyl- 




American goshawk 

vania, but now they only figure as migrants, with a few pairs breeding in the 
beech-woods. 

To give an idea of the immensity of these pigeon-roosts, I quote from the 
Elk Advocate as late as May, 185 1 : 

" The American Express Company carried in one day, over the New 
York and Erie Railroad, over seven tons of pigeons to the New York market, 
and all of these were from the west of Corning. This company alone have 
carried over this road from the counties of Chemung, Steuben, and Allegheny 
fifty-six tons of pigeons." 

As late as March, 1854, they came in such clouds for days that I was tired 
of looking at them and of the noise of the shooters. 

The wild pigeon lays usually one or two eggs, and both birds do their 

147 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

share of the incubating". The Females occupy the nest from two p.m. until the 
next morning) and the males from nine or ten a.m. until two P.M. The males 
usually food twice each day, while the females food only during - the forenoon. 
The old pigeons never feed near the nesting-places, always allowing the 
beechmast, buds, etc., there for use in feeding their young when they come 
forth. The birds go many miles to feed — -often a hundred or more. 




s : - nned hawk 

Pigeons do not drink like any other bird. They drink like the ox or cow, 
and they nourish the young pigeon for the first week of his life from 
" pigeon milk." a curd-like substance secreted in the crop of both parents 
profusely during the incubating season. We had but two varieties. — the 
'* wild." and turtle-doves. 

Our birds ungrate every fall to Tennessee, the Carolinas, and as far 
south as Florida. Want of winter food is and was the cause of that migration, 
for those that remained surely picked up a poor living. Migrating birds 
return year after year to the same locality. In migrating northward in the 
spring, the males usually precede the females several days, but on leaving 
their summer scenes of love and joy for the south, the sexes act in unison. 

148 






HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Oi the other pioneer birds, there was the orchard-oriole, pine-grosbeak, 
rose-breasted grosbeak, swallow, barn-swallow, ruff-winged swallow, bank 
swallow, black and white warbler, chestnut-sided warbler, barn-owl, American 
long-eared owl, short-eared owl, screech-owl, great-horned owl, yellow-billed 
cuckoo, black-billed cuckoo, kingbird, crested flycatcher, phcebe-bird, wood- 
pewee. least flycatcher, ruffed grouse (pheasant, or partridge), quail, also 




Wild pigeon 

known as the bob-white, marsh-hawk, sparrow-hawk, pigeon-hawk, fish-hawk, 
red-tailed hawk. American ruff-legged hawk, horned grebe, loon, hooded 
merganser, wood-duck, buff-headed duck, red-headed duck, American bittern, 
least bittern, blue heron, green heron, black-crowned night-heron. Virginia 




Grouse or Pheasant 

rail. Carolina rail, American coot. American woodcock. Wilson's snipe, least 
sandpiper, killdeer plover, belted kingfisher, turtle-dove, turkey-buzzard, whip- 
poorwill. nighthawk, ruby-throated humming-bird, blue-jay. bobolink, or reed- 
or rice-bird, purple grackle, cowbird (cow-bunting), red-winged blackbird, 
American grosbeak, red-poll. American goldfinch, or yellow-bird, towhee- 

149 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

bunting', cardinal or redbird, indigo bunting, scarlet tanager, cedar- or cherry- 
bird, butcher bird, or great northern scarlet tanager, red-eyed vireo, American 




redstart, cootbird, brown thrush, bluebird, house-wren, wood-wren, white- 
breasted nuthatch, chickadee, golden-crowned knight 



\( J&§> 




\ vtcral u - - ^ '.sr>s 

5 . MS . - 

K.;\o;\ QQ ~. - 15 

so K» ' .;.- .5 

Otov , too : 10 

■ t>se 5.' Comv - 

Sp . - 3 tin to 

^4 Thrush K> 

- . v fcj \\ v 5 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

WILD BEES — BEE-HUNTING, BEE-TREES, BEE-FOOD, ETC. 

" 1 [o\v doth the little busy bee 
Improve each shining hour, 
And gather honey all the day 
From every opening flower." 

In pioneer times these woods were alive with bee-trees, and even yet that 
condition prevails in the forest part of this region, as the following article on 
bees, from the pen of E. C. Niver, clearly describes: 

'* Although the natural range of bee-pasturage in this section is practi- 
cally unlimited, singular to relate, apiculture is not pursued to any meat 
extent. With all the apparently favorable conditions, the occupation is too 
uncertain and precarious to hazard much capital or time on it. At the best, 
apiculture is an arduous occupation, and in the most thickly populated farming 
communities it requires constant vigilance to keep track of runaway swarms. 
1 tul in this rugged mountain country, with its thousands of acres of hemlock 




slashings and hard-wood ridges, it is virtually impossible to keep an extensive 
apiary within bounds. The rich pasturage of the forests and mountain barrens 
affords too great a temptation, and although the honey-bee has been the pur- 
veyor of sweets for the ancients as far back as history reaches, she has never 
yet become thoroughly domesticated. At swarming time the nomadic instinct 
asserts itself. Nature lures and beckons, and the first opportunity is embraced 
to regain her fastness and subsist upon her bounty. Never a season goes by 
hut what some swarms escape to the woods. These take up their habitation 
in hollow trees or some other favorable retreat, and in time throw off other 
swarms. Thus it is that our mountains and forests contain an untold wealth 
of sweetness, but little of which is ever utilized by man. 

" Here is the opportunity of the bee-hunter. In the backwoods counties 
of Western Pennsylvania bee-hunting is as popular a sport with some as deer- 
hunting or trout-fishing. It does not have nearly so many devotees, perhaps, 
as these latter sports, for the reason that a greater degree of woodcraft, skill, 
and patience is required to become a proficient bee-hunter. Any backwoods- 

151 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

inan can earch oul and stand guard al a <I<-<t runway, watch a lick, or follow 
;i trail; and his skill wiili a rillc, in the use of which he is familiar from his 
early boyhood, insures him an equal chance in the pursuil of game. Ii does 
not require any nice display of woodcraft to tramp over the mountains to the 
head oi the troul stream, wiih a tin spice box full of worms, cut an ash 
sapling, equip ii with the hook and line, and fish the stream down to its mouth, 
Bui to search oul a small insect as it sips the nectar from the blossoms, trace 
it to its home, and successfully despoil it of its hoarded stores, requires a 
degree of skill and patience thai comparatively few can' to attain. Yet in 

every community of this Section are some old fellows who do not consider life 
complete without a crockful of Strained honey in the cellar when winter sets 
in. 'I hen, as they sit with their legs iindei the I; ilchen-table while their wives 

hake smoking hot buckwheal i ake», Mm- pungent flavor of decayed wood which 
the honey imparts to theii palates brings hail, the glory of the chase. Winn 

evei a man lake, to bee hunting he is an enthusiastic devotee, and with him 

all other Bporl is relegated to the background, 

'There are many methods employed in hunting the wild honey bee, 
I he first essential is a knowledge of bees and their habits, This can only he 
acquired by experience and intelligent observation, 'I he man who can sue- 
i essfully ' line' bees i an also bu< < cssfully ' keep' them in a domestic state, hut 
a successful apiarist is not necessarily a good bee hunter. 

" September and ( )ctobei are the best months for securing wild honey, 
as the bees have then in the main completed their stores. Al that season they 
can also he most readily lined, for the scarcity of sweets makes them more 
susceptible to artificial bait. Bui the professional bee hunter does not, as a 

rule, wail until fall to do all his lining, lie wants to know what is in pros 
pect, and by the time the honey-bee suspends operations for the winter the 

hiinlei has perhaps a dozen bee-trees located which he has heen watching all 
SUmmei in order to judge as near as possible as lo the aniounl of stored 
honey they contain. If the hunter wauls lo save the bees he nils the Iree in 
June and hives the inmates in the same manner as when they swarm in a 
domestic Btate, Many swarms are thus obtained, and the hunter scorns lo 
expend any money for a swarm of hecs which he can ml for the taking. As 
a mailer of course, when the honey is taken in the fall the hecs, being de 

spoiled of theii subsistence, inevitably perish. 

I'll gather the honey comb bright us gold, 
And chase tin- ell. to his sei i el fold,' 

"The first warm days of April, when i be snows have melted from the 
south side of the hills, and the spring rims are clear of ice, find the bee hunter 

on the alert. I here is nothing yet for the bees lo feed upon, hut a few of ihc 

advance-guard are emerging from their long winter's hibernations in search 
of pollen ;iik| water, and they instinctively seek the water's edge where the 

isz 



HISTORY OK NORTHWESTERN KKNNSYIA ANIA 



warm rays of the sun beat down. Where the stream has receded from the 
hank, leaving a miniature muddy beach, there the bees congregate, dabbling 
in the mud, sipping water and carrying it away. The firsl material sought tor 
by the bees is pollen, and the earliesl pasturage for securing tins is the puss) 
willow and skunk-cabbage, which grow in the swamps. Aiter these comes the 
soft maple, which also affords a large supply of pollen, Sugar maple is 
among the first wild growth which furnishes any honey. Then come i lu- 
wild cherry, the locust, and the red raspberries and blackberries. Of course, 
the first blossoms and the cultivated plants play an important pari, but the 
profusion of wild flowers which are hone) bearing would probably supply as 
much honey to the acre as the cultivated sections. 

"The wild honeysuckle, which covers thousands of acres ol the moun 
tain ranges with a scarlet flame in May, is a particular favorite with hees, as 
is also the tulip tree, which is (|niti' abundant in this section. Basswood honey 
has a national reputation, and before the paper wood cutters despoiled the 
ridges and forests the basswood-tree furnished an almost unlimited feeding 
ground. This tree blooms for a period of two or three weeks, and a single 

swarm has been known to collect ten pounds of honey in a day when ihis 
flower was in blossom. Devil's-clllb furnishes another Strong feed for hees, 
as well as the despised sumach. Last, lint not least, is the golden rod, which 
in this latitude lasts from August until killed h\ the autumn frosts. While 
these are the chief wild honey producing trees and plants, they are hut a 

fractional part id' the honey resources of the country. 

Having discovered the feeding-ground and haunts of the wild honey 

bee, the hunter proceeds to capture a hee and trace it to its habitation. This 

is done by ' lining,' — that is, following the bee's flight to its home. The 

hee always flies in a direct line to its place id* abode, and Ihis wonderful instinct 
gives rise to the expression, ' a hee line.' 

"To assist in the chase the hunter provides himself with a 'hee box, 
which is any small box possessing a lid, with some honey inside for hail. 

Arrived at any favorable feeding-ground, the hunter eagerly scans the bios 

soms until he finds a hee at work. This he scoops into his ho\ and closes the 
lid. If he can capture two or more hees at once, so much the heller. Alter 

buzzing angrily for a few moments in the darkened box the hee scents the 
honey inside and immediately quiets down and begins to work. Then the box 

is set down and tin- lid opened. When the hee gets all the honey she can 
carry she mounts upward with a rapid spiral motion until she gets her heat 
illgS, and then she is off like a shot in a direct line lo her habitation. I'res 

ently she is hack again, and tins lime when she departs her bearings are 

located and she goes direct. After several trips more hees appear, anil win ii 

they get to working the bait and the line of their flight is noted, the box is 

closed when the hees are inside and moved forward along the direction in 
which they have heen coming and going, The liunler carcfullv marks his 

tS3 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

trail and opens the box again. The bees are apparently unconscious that they 
have been moved, and work as before. This manoeuvre is repeated until the 
spot where the swarm is located is near at hand, and then comes the most 
trying part of the quest to discover the exact location of the hive. Sometimes 
it is in the hollow of a dead tree away to the top ; sometimes it is near the 
bottom. Again, it may be in a hollow branch of a living tree of gigantic pro- 
portions, closely hidden in the foliage, or it may be in an old stump or log. 
To search it out requires the exercise of much patience, as well as a quick eye 
and an acute ear. 

" To determine the distance of the improvised hive after a line has been 
established from the bee-box the hunter resorts to ' cross-lining.' This is 
done by moving the box when the bees are at work in it some distance to one 
side. The bees as visual fly direct to their home, the second line of flight 
converging with the first, forming the apex of a triangle, the distance between 
the first and second locations of the box being the base and the two lines of 
flight the sides. Where the lines meet the habitation is to be found. 

" Different kinds of bait are frequently used in order to induce the bees 
to work the box. In the flowering season a little anise or other pungent oil 
is rubbed on the box to attract the bees and keep them from being turned 
aside by the wealth of blossoms along their flight. It is a mistake to mix the 
oil with the bait, as it spoils the honey the bees make and poisons the whole 
swarm. Sometimes in the early spring corn-cobs soaked in stagnant brine 
proves an attractive bait, while late in the fall beeswax burned on a heated 
stone will bring the belated straggler to the bee-box. 

" Cutting a bee-tree is the adventuresome part of the sport. An angry 
swarm is a formidable enemy. Then, too, the treasure for which the hunter 
is in search is about to be revealed, and the . possibilities bring a thrill of 
anticipation and excitement. So far as the danger goes the experienced 
hunter is prepared for that, and protects his head and face by a bag of 
mosquito-netting drawn over a broad-brimmed hat. With gloves on his 
hands he is tolerably protected, but sometimes a heavy swarm breaks through 
the netting, and instances are on record where bee-hunters have been so 
severely stung in despoiling wild swarms as to endanger their lives. In felling 
a tree great care must be exercised in order that the tree may not break up 
and destroy the honey. Sometimes trees are felled after night, as bees do not 
swarm about in the darkness, and the danger of getting stung is not so great. 

" The amount of honey secured depends upon the age of the swarm. 
Frequently much time and labor have been expended in lining and cutting a 
tree which yielded nothing, while again the returns have been large. There 
are instances in this community where a single tree yielded over two hundred 
pounds of good honey. Not long since a hunter cut a tree in which a hollow 
space about eighteen inches in diameter was filled with fine honey for a length 
of fifteen feet. Often a tree is cut which has been worked so long that part 

154 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

of the honey is spoiled with age. Often the comb is broken and the honey 
mingled with the decayed wood of the tree. The bee-hunter, however, care- 
fully gathers up the honey, wood and all, in a tin pail, and strains it, and the 
pungent flavor of the wood does not in the least detract from the quality in 
his estimation. 

" Bee-hunting as a sport could still be pursued in nearly every section of 
Western Pennsylvania, particularly in the lumbering and tannery districts. 
In these sections thousands of acres are annually stripped of timber, extend- 
ing many miles back from the settled districts. Fire runs through these old 
slashings every year or so, and a dense growth of blackberry and raspberry 
briers spring up. These, with the innumerable varieties of wild flowers, afford 
a rich and vast pasturage for the honey-bee which has thrown off the restraints 
of civilization. Swarm upon swarm is propagated, the surplus product of 
which is never utilized. With a little encouragement bee-hunting might 
become as popular a form of sport with the dweller of the town as with the 
skilled woodsman." 

The bee was imported, and is a native of Asia. 




CHAPTER VII 



BILL LONG, THE KING HUNTER — THE HUNTER OF HUNTERS IN THIS WIL- 
DERNESS — SOME OF THE ADVENTURES AND INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF 
" BILL LONG" FROM HIS CHILDHOOD UNTIL HE WAS SEVENTY YEARS 
OF AGE 

I pause here to tell the story of Bill Long, the " king hunter." William 
Long, a son of Louis (Ludwig) Long, was born near Reading, Berks County, 
Pennsylvania, in 1794. His father and mother were Germans. In the 
summer of 1803, Louis Long, with his family, moved into this wilderness and 
settled near Port Barnett (now the McConnell farm). Ludwig Long's family 
consisted of himself, wife, and eleven children, — nine sons and two daughters, 
— William, the subject of this sketch, being the second child. The Barnetts 
were the only neighbors of the Longs. Louis Long brought with him a small 
" still" and six flint-lock guns, the only kind in use at that time. It was not 
until about the year 1830 that the percussion-cap rifles were first used, and 
they were not in general use here for some years after that. Guns were 
invented by a German named Swartz, about 1378. As soon as Mr. Long 
raised some grain he commenced to operate his " still" and manufacture 
whiskey, this being the first manufactured west of the mountains and east of 
the Allegheny River. 

This part of Pennsylvania was then the hunting-grounds of the Seneca 
Indians, — Cornplanter tribe. The still-house of Long soon became the resort 
for these Indians. Pittsburg was the nearest market for pelts, furs, etc., and 
the only place to secure flour and other necessaries. From the mouth of Red 
Bank Creek these goods had to be poled up to Barnett's in canoes. By scoop- 
ing the channel, wading, and polling, a round trip to the mouth could be made 
in from one to two weeks. Although the woods swarmed with Seneca Indians, 
as a rule, they never committed any depredations. 

In the summer of 1804, when William was ten years old, he killed his 
first deer. One morning his father sent him into the woods for the cows. 
Nature was resplendent with verdure. William carried with him a flint-lock 
gun, and when a short distance from the house he found the cows and a deer 
feeding with them. This was William's opportunity. He shot and killed this 
deer, and, as a reward for merit, his father gave him a flint-lock gun as a 
present. This circumstance determined his course in life, for from that day 
until his death it was his delight to roam in the forest and pursue wild animals, 

156 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

and hunting was his only business. He was a " professional hunter," a " still 
hunter," or a man who hunted alone. 

In the summer of 1804 William went with his mother to Ligonier, in 
Westmoreland County, to get some provisions. The only road was an Indian 
path, the distance sixty miles. They rode through the brush on a horse, and 
made the trip in about five days. 




Bill Long, the king hunter of Northwestern Pennsylvania 



The Indians soon became civilized, as far as drinking whiskey and getting 
drunk was an evidence. They visited this still-house for debauchery and 
drunken carnivals. As a safeguard to himself and family, Louis Long had a 
strong box made to keep the guns and knives of these Indians in while these 
orgies were occurring. The Indians desired him to do this. Mr. Long 
never charged the Indians for this whiskey, although they always offered 

157 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

pelts and furs when they sobered up. In consideration of this generosity, the 
Indians, in broken English, always called Louis Long, " Good man ; give 
Indian whiskey. Indian fight pale-face ; Indian come one hundred miles to 
give ' good man' warning." 

Ludwig Long kept his boys busy in the summer months clearing land, 
farming, etc. The boys had their own time in winter. Then William, with 
his gun and traps, traversed the forest, away from the ocean's tide, with no 
inlet or outlet but winding paths used by the deer when he wished to slake his 
thirst in the clear, sparkling water of the North Fork. 

The boy hunter, to keep from being lost while on the trail, followed up 
one side of this creek and always came down on the opposite. When he grew 
older he ventured farther and farther into the wilderness, but always keeping 
the waters of the North Fork, Mill Creek, and Sandy Lick within range until 
he became thoroughly educated with the country and woods. 

In his boyhood he frequently met and hunted in company with Indians. 
The Indians were friendly to him on account of his father's relations to them, 
and it was these Indians that gave William his first lessons in the art of 
hunting. Young William learned the trick of calling wolves in this way. 
One day his father and he went out for a deer. William soon shot a large 
one, and while skinning this deer they heard a pack of wolves howl. William 
told his father to lie down and be ready to shoot, and he would try the Indian 
method of " howling" or calling wolves up to you. His father consented, 
and William howled and the wolves answered. William kept up the howls 
and the wolves answered, coming closer and closer, until his father became 
scared ; but William wouldn't stop until the wolves got so close that he and 
his father had to fire on the pack, killing two, when the others took fright and 
ran away. The bounty for killing wolves then was eight dollars apiece. A 
short time after this William and his father went up Sandy to watch an elk- 
lick, and at this point they killed an elk and started for home. On the way 
home they found where a pack of about twenty wolves had crossed their 
path, near where the town of Reynoldsville now is. Looking up the hill on 
the right side of Sandy they espied the whole pack, and, both father and son 
firing into the pack, they killed two of them. William then commenced to 
" howl," and one old wolf through curiosity came to the top of the hill, 
looking down at the hunters. For this bravery William shot him through the 
head. On their return home that day Joseph Barnett treated them both to 
whiskey and " tansy," for, said he, " the wolves this day have killed one of 
my cows." When Long was still a young man, one day he went up the North 
Fork to hunt. About sundown he shot a deer, and when he had it dressed 
there came up a heavy rain. Being forced to stay all night, he took the pelt 
and covered himself with it, and lay down under the bank to sleep. After 
midnight he awoke,' and found himself covered with sticks and leaves. In 
a minute he knew this was the work of a panther hunting food for her cubs, 

158 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

and that she would soon return. He therefore prepared a pitch-pine fagot, 
lit it, and hid the burning fagot under the bank and awaited the coming of 
the panther. In a short time after this preparation was completed the animal 
returned with her cubs, and when she was within about thirty feet of him, 
Long thrust his torch up and out, and when it blazed up brightly the panther 
gave out a yell and ran away. 

The wild carnivorous animals are found in all parts of the world, except 
Australia, the Dingo dog being imported there. 

John Long and William started out one morning on Sandy Lick to have 
a bear-hunt, taking with them nine dogs. William had been sent out the day 
before with two dogs, and had a skirmish with a bear on Sandy Lick, near 
where Fuller's Station now stands. The two brothers went to this point and 
found the track, and chased the bear across the creek at Rocky Bend, the 
bear making for a windfall; but the dogs stopped him before he reached the 
windfall and commenced the fight. They soon heard some of the dogs giving 
death-yells. They both hurried to the scene of conflict, and the sight they 
beheld was three favorite dogs stretched out dead and the balance fight- 
ing. William ran in and placed the muzzle of his gun against bruin's breast 
and fired. The bear then backed up to the root of a large hemlock, sitting 
upright and grabbing for dogs. John and William then fired, and both balls 
entered bruin's head, not more than an inch apart. In this mclce three dogs 
were killed and the other six badly wounded. When William was still a boy 
he went up the North Fork and killed five deer in one day. On his way home 
about dark he noticed a pole sticking in the hollow of a tree, and carelessly 
gave this pole a jerk, when he heard a noise in the hole. The moon being 
up, he saw a bear emerge from this tree some distance up. Young Long shot 
and killed it before it reached the earth. In that same fall, William killed 
in one day, on Mill Creek, nine deer, the largest number he ever killed in that 
space of time. At that time he kept nothing but the pelts, and carried them 
home on his back. Panthers often came around Louis Long's home at night, 
screaming and yelling. So one morning, after three had been prowling 
around the house all night, William induced his brother John to join him in 
a hunt for them. There was snow on the ground, and they took three dogs 
with them. The dogs soon found the " tracks." Keeping the dogs back, they 
soon found three deer killed by the brutes, and then they let the dogs go. The 
dogs soon caught these three panthers feasting on a fourth deer and treed 
two of the panthers. John shot one and Billy the other. The third escaped. 
The hunters then camped for the night, dining on deer- and panther-meat 
roasted, and each concluded the panther-meat was the sweetest and the best. 

In the morning they pursued the third panther, treed it, and killed it. 
These were the first panthers the Long boys ever killed. This stimulated 
young William, so he took one of the Vastbinder boys and started out again, 
taking two dogs. They soon found a panther, the dogs attacking it. Young 

i59 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Vastbinder fired, but missed. The panther sprang for Long, but the dogs 
caught him by the hams and that saved young Long. The panther broke 
loose from the dogs and ran up on a high root. Long fired and broke the 
brute's back. The dogs then rushed in, but the panther whipped them off. 
Then Long, to save the dogs, ran in and tomahawked the creature. Long 
was now about eighteen years of age. At another time a panther sprang from 
a high tree for Long. Long fired and killed the panther before it reached him, 




Long fires at a panther 



but the animal striking Long on the shoulder the weight felled him to the 
earth. 

In 1815 six brothers of Cornplanter's tribe of Indians erected wigwams 
in the Beaver Meadows, where Du Bois now stands. 

In 1826 Ludwig Long moved to Ohio, and young Bill went with the 
family. He remained there about twenty months ; but finding little game, 
concluded to return to the mountain-hills of Jefferson County, then the para- 
dise of hunters. In 1828, William Long married Mrs. Nancy Bartlett, for- 
merly Miss Nancy^ Mason, and commenced married life in a log cabin on the 
North Fork, three miles from where Brookville now is, and on what is now 
the Albert Horn farm, formerly the Gaup place. About this time, game being 
plenty, and the scalps, skins, and saddles being hard to carry in, Bill Long in- 
duced a colored man named Charles Southerland to build a cabin near him on 

160 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

what is now known as the Jacob Hoffman farm. Long was to provide for 
Charlie's family. The cabin was built, and Sontherland served Long for about 
five years. Charles never carried a gun. I remember both these characters 
well in my childhood, and doctored Long and his wife in my early practice and 
as late as 1862. In 1830, taking Charlie, Long started up the North Fork for 
bears ; it was on Sunday. After Long killed the first bear, he called Charlie 
to come and bring the dogs. When Charlie reached him he yelled out, " Good 
God, massa, hab you seed one?" They continued the hunt that day, and 
before dark had killed seven bears. Charlie had never seen any bears killed 
before, but after this day was crazy to be on a hunt, for, he said, " if dem 
little niggers of mine hab plenty of bear-grease and venison, they will fatten 
well enough." This fall Long killed sixty deer and twenty-five bears, all on 
the North Fork, and the bears were all killed near and around where Rich- 
ardsville now is. This locality was a natural home for wild animals, — 

" With its woodland dale and dell, 
Rippling brooks and hill-side springs." 

" A life in the forest deep, 
Where the winds their revels keep ; 
Like an eagle in groves of pine, 
Long hunted with his mate." 

The day after Long killed the seven bears, he took Charlie Southerland, 
and travelled over the same ground that he had been over the day before. 
He heard nothing, however, during the day but the sigh of the breeze or 
the speech of the brook until near evening, when, within about a mile of 
home, he saw a large buck coming down the hill. He fired and wounded the 
buck, and then motioned Charlie to come up to him while he was loading. 
Charlie came with a large pine-log on his back. Long asked him what he was 
doing with that log. Southerland replied he wanted it for dry wood. Long 
told him to throw the wood away, and made him carry the buck home for 
food. Long then yoked his two dogs up and told Charlie to lead them, but 
soon discovering bear signs, told Charlie to let the dogs go. The dogs took 
the trail, and found two bears heading for the laurel on the head of the 
North Fork. Long knew the route they would take, and beat them to the 
laurel path. Soon Long heard them coming, the dogs fighting the bears every 
time the bears would cross a log, catching them from behind. The bears 
would then turn around and fight the dogs until they could get over the log. 
When the bears came within about thirty yards of Long, he shot one through 
the head and killed him. At this time Long only took the pelts, which he 
always carried home, the meat being of no account. This same year Long 
took Charlie with him to get some venison by watching a lick, and he took 
Charlie up a tree with him. In a short time a very large bear came into the 
11 161 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

lick. Long shot it while he and Charlie were up the tree. Much to Long's 
amusement, Charlie was so scared that he fell from the tree to the ground, 
landing on his back with his face up. He was, however, unhurt, and able 
to carry home to his cabin the pelt and bear oil. The next morning they saw 
a bear, and Long fired, hitting him in the lungs. This same fall, on the head 
of the North Fork, Long saw something black in the brush, which, on closer 
inspection, proved to be a large she bear. On looking up, he saw three good- 
sized cubs. Long climbed up, and brought the whole three of them down, one 
at a time. He then handed them to Charlie, who tied their legs. Long put 
them in his knapsack and carried them home. 

Knapsacks were made out of bed-ticking or canvas, with shoulder-strap. 
One of these young bears Long sold to Adam George, a butcher in Brookville. 
Even at this late day Long only took the skins and what meat he wanted for 
his own use. This fall Long was not feeling well, and had to keep out of the 
wet. He therefore made Charlie carry him across the streams. He also 
made Charlie carry a wolf-skin for him to sit on at night, when he was watch- 
ing a lick. At another time Charlie and Long went out on a hunt near the 
head of the North Fork. In lonely solitude the dog started a bear, and Long 
could not shoot it for fear of hitting the dog, so he ran up and made a stroke 
at the bear's head with a tomahawk, wounding it but slightly. The bear 
jumped for Long, and the dog came to the rescue of his master by catching 
" the tip of the bear's tail end," and, with the valor and fidelity of a true 
knight, held it firmly, until Long, who had left his gun a short distance, ran 
for it. Charlie thought Long was running from the bear, and took to his 
heels as if the " Old Harry" was after him. Long tried to stop him, but 
Charlie only looked back, and at this moment his foot caught under a root, 
throwing him about thirty feet down a hill. Charlie landed on a rock hard 
enough to have burst a shingle-bolt. Long, seeing this, ran to the bear with 
his gun and shot him. He then hurried down the hill to see what had become 
of Charlie, calling to him. Charlie came out from under a bunch of laurel, 
saying, " God Almighty, Massa Long, I am failed from heben to hell ! Are 
you still living? I tot that ar bar had done gon for you when I seed him 
come for you with his mouth open. Bless de good Lord you still live, or this 
nigger would never git out of dese woods !" That night Charlie and Long 
lay out in the woods. The wolves came up quite close and commenced to 
howl. Long saw there was a chance for a little fun, so he commenced to 
howl like a wolf. Charlie became nervous. " When lo ! he hears on all sides, 
from innumerable tongues, a universal howl, and in his fright" said there 
must be five thousand wolves. Long said he thought there was, and told 
Charlie that, if the wolves came after them, he must climb a tree. In a few 
minutes Long made a jump into the woods, yelling, " The wolves are coming," 
and Charlie bounded like a deer into the woods, too. The night was dark and 
dreary ; but deep in the forest Charlie made out to find and climb a majestic 

162 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

oak. Long, therefore, had to look Charlie up, and when he got near to our 
colored brother, he heard him soliloquizing thus : " Charles, you have to stick 
tight, for if this holt breaks you are a gone nigger." Long then stepped up 
to the tree and told Charlie the danger was over ; but coming down the tree 
was harder than going up, for Charlie fell to the earth like a thunder-bolt and 
doubled up like a jack-knife. 

BILL LONG AND HIS ATTENDANT, " BLACK CHARLIE" 

In 1833, on his way home one day, Long saw a bear at the foot of a large 
tree. He came up close and tried to get a shot at its head, but the bear kept 
moving about so that he dared not fire. After trying for some time, he knew 




Common brown bear 



from the action of the bear that there were young ones near, so he bawled like 
a cub, when the old bear came on the run for him, with her mouth open. Long 
waited until she came up close, when he rammed the muzzle of the gun in 
her open mouth and pulled the trigger of the gun with the thumb of his left 
hand, the load knocking her teeth out and breaking her jaw. She then went 
back to the tree and commenced walking around in a circle. As soon as Long 
reloaded the gun he bawled again, and the bear this time came within sixteen 
feet of him and sat up straight, wiping her mouth with her paws. He then 
took aim at the stalking place and killed her. Going to the tree she had been 

16.3 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

walking around and looking up, he saw two cubs. At the sight of Long these 
cubs commenced to crawl down; one dropped to the ground and ran off. 
Long fired at the other, breaking its back. This cub then fell to the ground, 
and Long tomahawked it. Knowing the other cub would not go far away, 
he reloaded the gun, and espied the cub under a log close by. Taking aim 
at its head he fired, and the cub fell dead. A bear weighing four hundred 
pounds would render fifteen gallons of oil. 

This same year, on the head of the North Fork, " where rippling waters 
still flow," Long espied a cub bear on a tree-top. He told his attendant, 
" Black Charlie," that there was an old bear near, or soon would be, and if 






' fel< 




Bear and cubs 



the old one did not soon come back he wanted Charlie to make the cub bawl. 
After waiting for some time for the old bear to come, Long impatiently climbed 
the tree, caught the cub and gave it to Charlie, telling him to take it by the 
hind legs and hold it up and shake it, which would make it bawl. After some 
time the cub was made to bawl. The bear, hearing this, came running with 
her mouth open. Charlie threw the cub to its mother, but the bear ran by the 
cub and stopped, looking first at Long and then at the cub. Long fired at 
her, hitting her in the breast. She then turned and ran toward the cub. After 
loading again he shot her through the lungs, when she started and ran some 

164 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

distance, and then came back to the cub, which sat still. After firing the 
second shot Long heard Charlie yell, " What tidings ?" Long answered him, 
" Good." Charlie started for the rear, saying, Long " didn't get dat nigger 
back dar again till dat brute am killed." As she came up Long shot her in 
the head, killing her. He then got the cub and took it home alive. 

At one time Long took thirteen wolf scalps and five panther scalps to 
Indiana for the bounty. 

Once in this same year, when Long was up on the North Fork, he shot 
a deer, and it fell apparently dead ; but when he went to cut its throat it 
jumped to its feet and made for him, and threw him on the ground, with a 
horn on each side of his breast. The stone and gravel stopped the horns from 
going into the ground to any great depth. Long then called for Charlie and 
the dogs, but they were slow in coming to his aid. Before Charlie got to him 
Long had let go of a horn with one hand and had secured his knife, and made 
a stroke at the neck of the deer, plunging the knife in the throat, and again 
dexterously clinched the loose horn. The blood came down on him until he 
was covered and perfectly wet. When the deer commenced to rise Long still 
held on to both horns until the deer raised him to his feet. The deer then 
gave a spring, and fell dead. By this time Charlie and the dogs came up, and 
the negro was crying. Long was angry, and said to Charlie, " You black 

son of a b , where have you been?" " Oh, massa, am you killed?" " No, 

damn you ; where have you been?" " Oh, just came as soon as I could. Will 
I let the dogs go?" Long said, " No, the deer is dead." 

Charlie's domestic life was not all peace, as the following newspaper 
advertisement will explain : 

" CAUTION 

" Whereas my wife Susey did on the 26th day of March last leave my 
bed and board, and took with her two of my sons and some property, having 
no other provocation than ' that I would not consent to my son marrying a 
white girl, and bring her home to live with us.' Therefore I hereby caution 
all persons against harboring or trusting her on my account, as I will pay no 
debts of her contracting. 

" If she will come home I promise to do all in my power to make her 
comfortable, and give her an equal share of all my property. 

" Charles Southerland. 

" April 7, 1847." 

In a copy of the Jeffersonian printed in 1852, I find the following: 
" In this day's paper we record the death of Charles Sutherland (colored), 
who was one of the oldest inhabitants of this county. Sutherland had arrived 
at the advanced age of nearly one hundred years. He came to what is now 
Jefferson County upward of forty years ago, when the ground upon which 
Brookville now stands was but a howling wilderness. Many there are in this 

165 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

borough who will miss the familiar and friendly visits of ' old Charley,' who, 
with hat in hand, and his venerable head uncovered, asked alms at their hands. 
No more will they hear from him a description of the ' Father of his Coun- 
try,' when he, Charley, held his horse at the laying of the corner-stone of the 
Capitol at Washington City. His breath is hushed, his lips are sealed, and 
his body is wrapped in the cold habiliments of the grave. Requiescat in pace." 

When this wilderness commenced to settle up, Long visited Broken Straw 
Creek, in Warren County, on the head of the Allegheny River, to see a noted 
hunter by the name of Cotton, and to learn from him his method of hunting 
young wolves. He learned much from this man Cotton, and afterwards 
secured many young wolves by the instruction given him by Cotton. In the 
winter of 1835 Mike and Bill Long went to Boone's Mountain to hunt. This 
mountain was a barren region in those days, that always looked in winter-time 
like 

" Rivers of ice and a sea of snow, 
A wilderness frigid and white." 

During the season Bill killed one hundred and five deer and Mike one 
hundred and four, and together they killed four bears. At this time there 
was some local demand in Brookville and other towns for venison, and in this 
year the Longs sent loads of venison to Harrisburg, making a trip to the 
capital in seven or eight days. In 1839, Long moved into Clearfield County, 
and his history in Jefferson County was closed. 

Number of animals killed by Long in his life-time: bears, 400; deer (in 
1835 one white one), 3500; panthers, 50; wolves, 2000; elks, 125; foxes, 
400; wild-cats, 200; catamounts, 500; otters, 75. 

In 1824 Bill Long had a thrilling adventure with a huge panther in what 
is now Warsaw Township. He, in a hand-to-hand encounter, killed the animal 
near where Bootjack, Jefferson County, now stands. 

Long used to catch fawns, mark their ears, turn them loose, and kill them 
when full-grown deer. Elks were easily domesticated, and sold as follows, — 
viz. : for a living male elk one year old, $50 ; two years old, $75 ; three 
years old. $100: and for a fawn three months old, $25. In 1835 Long had 
five wolf-dens that he visited annually for pups, about the 1st of May. 

In 1834 Bill Long, his brother Mike, and Ami Sibley started on a hunt 
for elk near where Portland now is. At the mouth of Bear Creek these three 
hunters came across a drove of about forty elks. Bill Long fired into the 
herd arid broke the leg of one. This wounded elk began to squeal, and then 
the herd commenced to run in a circle around the injured one. Sibley's gun 
had the wiping-stick fastened in it, and he could not use it. Bill and Mike 
then loaded and fired into the drove as rapidly as they could, the elks con- 
tinuing to make the circle, until each had fired about twenty-five shots, when 
the drove became frightened and ran away. On examination, the hunters 

166 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

found eight large elks killed. They then made a raft, ran the load down to 
where Raught's mill is now, and hauled the meat, pelts, and horns to Brook- 
ville. Portland and Bear Creek are now in Elk County. 

In 1836 Bill Long took Henry Dull and started on a hunt for a young 
elk. On the third day Long saw a doe elk and fawn. He shot the mother, 
and his dog caught the fawn and held it without hurting it. Long removed 
the udder from the mother, carrying it with the " teats" uppermost, and giving 
the fawn milk from it until they reached Ridgway, where a jug of milk was 
secured, and by means of an artificial " teat" the fawn was nourished until 
Long reached his North Fork home. Dull led the little creature by a rope 
around its neck. Mrs. Long raised this elk with her cows, feeding it every 
milking-time, and when the fawn grew to be some size he would drive the 
cows home every evening for his supper of milk. When this elk was full 
grown, Long and Dull led him to Buffalo, New York, via the pike westward 
to the Allegheny River, and up through Warren, and sold the animal for two 
hundred dollars, — one hundred dollars in cash and a note for the other 
hundred, that was never paid. 

In the fall of 1836 Long took Henry Dull with him to hunt wolves. The 
second evening Long found an old wolf with six half-grown pups. He shot 
two and the rest ran away. Long and Dull then climbed a hemlock, and Long 
began his wolf howl. On hearing the howl, two pups and the old wolf came 
back. Long then shot the mother, and afterwards got all the pups. Dull 
became so frightened that he fell head first, gun and all, through the brush, 
striking the ground with his head, producing unconsciousness and breaking 
his shoulder. " Thanks to the human heart, by which we live," for Long 
nursed Dull at his home on the North Fork for three months. Scalps then 
brought twelve dollars apiece. In that same year Fred. Hetrick and Bill killed 
an elk at the mouth of Little Toby which weighed six hundred pounds. 

In the winter of 1834 William Dixon, Mike and Bill Long, with dogs, 
went out to " rope" or catch a live elk. They soon started a drove on the 
North Fork, and the dogs chased the drove over to the Little Toby, a short 
distance up from the mouth. The dogs separated one buck from the drove, 
and this elk, to protect himself from the dogs, took refuge on a ledge of rocks. 
Bill Long, while Mike and Dixon and the dogs attracted the attention of the 
elk from below, scrambled in some way to the top of the rocks and threw a 
rope over the elk's horns, and then cabled the elk to a small tree. This in- 
furiated the elk, so that he jumped out over the rocks and fell on his side. 
Mike and Dixon now had the first rope. Bill Long then rushed on the fallen 
elk and threw another rope in a slip-noose around the elk's neck, and fast- 
ened this rope as a guy to a tree. Each rope was then fastened in an oppo- 
site direction to a tree, and after the buck was choked into submission, his 
feet were tied, and the elk was dragged by these three men on the creek 
ice to where Brockwayville now is. Here they secured a yoke of oxen and 

167 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

sled from Ami Sibley, a might)" hunter. A small tree was then cut, the main 
stem being left about five feet long and the two forks about three feet in 
length. Each prong of the tree was fastened to a horn of the buck, and the 
main stem permitted to hang down in front over the buck's nose, to which it 
was fastened with a rope. A rope was then tied around the neck and antlers, 
and the loose end tied around the hind bench of the sled ; this drove the elk 
close up to the hind part of the sled. The ropes around the feet of the elk 
were then cut, and the buck lit on his feet. After the animal had made many 
desperate efforts and plunges, he quieted down, and no trouble was expe- 
rienced until within a few miles of Brookville, when, meeting an acquaint- 
ance, Dixon became so much excited over the success in capturing a live elk, 
that he ran up and hit the elk on the back, exclaiming, " See, we have done it !" 
and this so scared the elk that he made a desperate jump, upsetting the sled 
into a ditch over a log. The oxen then took fright, and in the general melee 
the elk had a shoulder knocked out of place and the capture was a failure. 

There grew in abundance in those days a tree called moose or leather- 
wood. The pioneers used the bark for ropes, which were very strong. 

ELK AND VENISON JERK 

This was " venison flesh cut off in a sheet or web about half an inch 
thick and spread on the tops of pegs driven into the ground, whilst under- 
neath a fire was kindled, fed with chips of sassafras and other odorous woods, 
that gradually dried it." The web would be removed and replaced until the 
jerk was thoroughly dried. The old hunter used to carry a little jerk always 
with him to eat with his bread. This jerk was a delicious morsel. Bill Long 
gave me many a " cut." I think I can taste it now. Mike and Bill Long 
would bring it to Brookville and retail it to the people at five cents a cut. 

AN INCIDENT ON THE PIKE 

In the spring of 1820, when the pike was being constructed, there was an 
early settler by the name of George Eckler living near Port Barnett. This 
man Eckler liked a spree, and the Irish that worked on the pike were not 
averse to " a wee drop at ony time." A jug or two of Long's " Mountain 
Dew" whiskey, fresh from the still, was secured, and a jolly " Donnvbrook 
Fair" time was had one night in the woods. Eckler came in for the worst of 
it. for his eyes were blackened and he was battered up generally. On sober 
reflection he concluded to swear out a warrant before Thomas Lucas, Esq., 
for the " Paddies of the pike." The warrant was placed in the hands of the 
constable, John Dixon, Sr. There were about twenty-five in this gang of 
Paddies, and Constable Dixon summoned a posse of eight to assist in the 
arrest. This posse consisted of the young Dixons. Longs, and McCulloughs, 
and when this solid column of foresters reached the Irish on the pike, one of 
the Paddies. told the constable to "go home and attend to his own business." 

168 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

He then commanded the pike battalion to remove the handles from their picks 
and charge on the posse. This they did, to the complete rout of the natives, 
chasing them all in confusion like a herd of deer through and across Mill 
Creek. Young Bill Long was with this posse, and he ran home, too, but only 
to arm himself, not with a shillelah, but with his flint-lock, tomahawk, and 
knife. Thus armed and single-handed he renewed the conflict, keeping in the 
woods and above the Irish, and sending balls so close to their heads that the 
whiz could be heard, until he drove the whole pack, with their carts, etc., from 
above Port Barnett to where Brookville now stands. 

In the forties, when Long lived above Falls Creek, he went through 
wastes of snow and icicled trees to find a buck that he had wounded, and took 
his son Jack, who was but a boy, along with him. On their way the dog 
scented some animal that was no deer, and Long told him to go. The dog 
soon treed a panther, and when the two hunters came to him they found two 
more panthers on the ground. The dog seized one of the animals, and Jack 
stopped to shoot the one on the tree, which, after he had shot twice, fell dead. 
At the same time Long threw his gun down in the snow, as he could not 
shoot for fear of killing the dog which had seized the panther. Long then 
ran to the dog's assistance and tomahawked the panther. Jack then came up 
to his father and said, pointing, " There is the other one looking at us." The 
dogs were urged on and both took hold of this panther ; Jack ran in and 
caught the panther by the hind legs, the dogs having him in front. Jack was 
anxious to take this animal home alive and wanted him roped. Long got a 
rope from his knap-sack and tied it around the hind legs. Making a noose, 
he put it over the panther's head and tied the rope to a sapling, and Jack 
pulled back on the other rope, thus stretching the panther full length. The 
front feet were tied without any danger and the panther was soon secured, 
but when they had him tied and ready to move home, they discovered he was 
bleeding at the throat. On looking closely, they discovered the dogs had cut 
the jugular vein, and before they had the other two animals skinned, the third 
one was dead. 

On Bill Long's first trip over to Chess Creek, he took Colonel Smiley with 
him. Nearly everybody in those militia days was either a colonel, a major, 
or a captain. Under this system Pennsylvania had one year forty-eight gen- 
erals. Colonel Smiley then lived between the town of Du Bois and where 
Luthersburg now is. They went on this outing for young wolves. On ar- 
riving near the head of Chess Creek, they found a very rocky ridge, when it 
was nearly dark. Long told Smiley they had better lay by for the night, as 
he thought there must be wolves near there. Smiley wanted to know where 
they would sleep. " There, upon that," said Long, pointing to a flat rock. 
Smiley then picked up a pheasant feather, remarking that he was going to 
have a downy pillow any way. Long, as usual, made a bed of hemlock boughs, 
and the two slept upon this bed on the rock. Smiley took his feather and there 

169 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

in this deep forest, with nought but the sky above their beads and the shadowy 
clouds that passed, wrapped in the anus of Morpheus, they slept until about 
the hour of one. when in the deep stillness of night they were awakened by 
what proved to be the bark of a dog wolf. Long told Smiley to listen to see 
if there would be an answer to this bark. Soon they heard an answer in a 
howl. Long then told the colonel to arise and set the compass for the direc- 
tion of this howl, for this was a slut, and by this means they could see if the 
howl was repeated in the morning- at the same place. About daylight the dog- 
wolf commenced to bark again, and was answered by the slut with a howl. 
Long said. '" Set the compass now." This the colonel did. with the remark. 
" She is at the same place." " Now." said Long-. " let us follow the direction," 
and the colonel, keeping the compass before him. they came, after about three- 
quarters of an hour, to where a big tree had been blown out of root. There 
was that she-wolf near to it. On coming up they found nine pups, and while 
they were getting the pups the old wolf came at them with her mouth wide 
open. Smiley drew his gun to shoot, but Long- told him not to shoot, for that 
wolf was more to him than a horse, as he wanted to get her pups next year. 
Long then killed seven of the pups and took two of them to Oldtown, now 
Clearfield, where he sold the two live ones and got the bounty for the seven 
he had killed. Long got the pups of this wolf for three years afterwards, 
always near the same place. Shortly after this Long- took bis little boy Jack 
and started up Spring Creek on the Clarion River to the big- elk lick there. 
He stayed at the big lick, and put lack at a deer lick a short distance further 
up the creek. Long soon heard elk coming into his lick, when he fired and 
killed one. Jack, hearing his father's shot, came down to him the next morn- 
ing. Long- left the boy to skin this elk and started for Ridgway to get a drink 
and some provisions. On his way up to the town he killed rive deer. When 
he returned Jack had finished skinning the elk. which Long- then " jerked." 
took to Brookville, and sold in cuts. 

Our elk was what scientists called wapiti. Other common names were 
red deer. stag-, gray moose, or gray elk. They usually lived in families. Their 
horns were round, with twelve or more regular prongs. A perfectly devel- 
oped set would weigh twenty or thirty pounds. They calved regularly in 
May. 

Mike and Rill, with their dogs, started for the waters of North Fork. 
taking- a bottle of whiskey with them. When near the bead of this stream, the 
dogs took the scent of wolves and followed them under a large rock. Rill 
crawled under this rock and took from it eight young wolves. These scalps 
brought sixty- four dollars. Long went another time and took his son Tack, 
who was quite small, with him. also his dog. which he called Trim. I remem- 
ber this dog well. He was most thoroughly trained, and I have seen Long on 
a drunken jamboree in John Smith's bar-room, in Prookville. command this 
dog Trim to smell tor wolves, when the dog would actively and carefully 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

scent every part of the room. In man the most developed sense is touch, in 
birds sight, and in dogs smell. While on this trip Long crossed over to the 
waters of Little Toby, and at a certain point he knew from the actions of 
Trim that there was game somewhere near. Looking in the same direction 
as the dog, he saw a big bear on a tree and two large wolves at the foot 
watching the bear. Long told Jack to hold Trim and he would crawl up and 
shoot the bear. As he got within shooting distance of the bear, Trim broke 
loose from jack and the bear seeing the dog, came down the tree and ran off. 
The dog then took after the wolves. The slut wolf ran under a rock and the 
dog wolf ran in a different direction. Long and Trim pursued the dog wolf, 
and in a short time Trim came back yelping with the wolf at his heels. Trim 
had about one inch of white at the end of his tail which the wolf had bitten off. 
The wolf paid no attention to Long, but went straight on. At shooting dis- 
tance Long shot him through the bead. The two, father and son, then went 
to the rocks, and Bill crawled under, finding there seven young wolves, — six 
he caught, but the seventh he could not find though he could hear it bark. 
Long came out and gave his gun to Jack and told him that he would howl 
like a wolf and the pup would come out, and then for Jack to shoot it. The 
pup hearing Long howl, and thinking that he was its mother, came out, and 
Jack shot it. The seven pups and the old male made eight wolves at this 
time. Bill Long took the pups of that slut every spring for five years, find- 
ing them some place between the mouth of Little Toby and Brandycamp. 
When out on the ridge near where Bootjack, Elk County, now is, Long saw 
signs of a panther. He had two dogs with him, and soon came on the 
panther. The dogs were barking at the animal as it sat up on a rock. 
Long fired at the panther and wounded it. The dogs then rushed upon the 
panther, but soon let go, though not before one of them was badly crippled. 
Long at that time had a double-barrelled rifle. He then ran upon the panther, 
and, putting the muzzle of the gun to its head, killed it on the spot. In this 
adventure he had not only the skin of the panther to carry home, but the 
crippled dog also, which was too badly wounded to walk. 

About the year 1845 Bill Long and two of Kahle's boys, John and Jacob, 
caught eight young wolves in a den. This den was on Mill Creek, that 
empties into the Clarion about three or four miles from where Sicgel now is. 
John Kahle, on going in the ninth time, as he had done eight times before, 
armed with a torch, a stick four or five feet long with a book on it to fasten 
into the wolves, and a rope tied to his foot, to pull him out by, caught the old 
one. Long and the Kahles thought she was not in. When young Kahle saw 
the wolf he pulled the rope and Long pulled Kahle out, but Kahle was not 
able to bring the wolf with him. When he told his story, Long tried to hire 
him for ten dollars to go in again, but Kahle would not. Long then tried to 
hire his brother, and he would not go in. Then Long whetted his knife, fixed 
his gun, and started in, but the way being too narrow for him, he came back 

171 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

before getting out of sight. After the fourth trial by Long, he came out and 
said he had seen the wolf, but could not shoot her. 

As 1 remember Long, he was about five feet and four inches high, chubby, 
strongly built, active, athletic, and a great dancer, — danced what he called the 
" chippers" and the " crack," — was cheerful, lively, and good-natured. He 
carried a heavy single-barrelled, muzzle-loading rifle. His belief was that he 
could shoot better with a heavy rifle than with a light one. Although there 
were dozens of professional hunters in this wilderness, this man was the king. 
He had an enduring frame, a catlike step, a steady nerve, keen eyesight, and 
a ripe knowledge of all the laws governing " still hunts for deer and bears." 
To reach the great skill he attained in mature life required natural talents, 
perseverance, sagacity, and habits of thought, as well as complete self-poise, 
self-control, and quickness of execution. 

In these woods Long had great opportunities for perfecting himself in all 
that pertained to proficiency in a great hunter. Of the other hunters that 
approached him. 1 only recall his brothers, the Knapps. the three Yastbinders, 
the Lucases, the Bells, the Xolfs, Sibley. Fred. Hetrick. Indian Russell, and 
George Smith. 

The professional hunter was created by the law of 1705 under the 
dynasty of William Perm. The law reads as follows : 

" AX ACT FOR THE KILLING OF WOLVES FOR PREVENTING THE DESTRUCTION OF 

SHEEP AND CATTLE BY WOLVES 

"Section - 1. Be it enacted by John Evans, Esquire, by the Queen's 
royal approbation Lieutenant-Governor under William Peun. Esquire, ab- 
solute Proprietary and Governor-in-Chief of the Province of Pennsylvania 
and Territories, by and with the advice and consent of the freemen of the said 
Province in General Assembly met. and by the authority of the same. That 
if any person within this province shall kill a dog-wolf, he shall have ten 
shillings, and if a bitch-wolf, fifteen shillings, to be paid out of the county 
stock. Provided such person brings the wolf's head to one of the justices of 
the peace of that county, who is to cause the ears and tongue of the said wolf 
to be cut off. And that the Indians, as well as others, shall be paid for 
killing wolves accordingly. 

" Section 2. And be it further enacted by tlie authority aforesaid. That 
all and every person or persons who are willing to make it their business to 
kill wolves, and shall enter into recog-nizance before two or more justices of 
the peace of the respective counties where he or they dwell, with sufficient 
security in the sum of five pounds, that he or they shall and will make it his 
or their sole business, at least three days in every week, to catch wolves, shall 
have twenty-five shillings for every wolf, dog or bitch, that he or they shall 
so catch and kill within the time mentioned in the said recognizance, to be 
paid out of the county levies where the wolves are taken as aforesaid." 

172 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

This act was repealed by the acts of 1782 and 1819. 

Long's early dress was a coon-skin cap, moccasin shoes, a hunting-shirt, 
and generally buckskin breeches. The hunting-shirt was worn by all these 
early hunters, and sometimes in militia drill. It was a kind of frock, reached 
clown to the thighs, had large sleeves, was open before, and lapped over a foot 
or so when belted. This shirt was made of linsey, coarse linen, or of dressed 
buckskin. The deer-skin shirt was cold and uncomfortable in wet and cold 
rains. The bosom of the shirt served as a receptacle for rye bread, wheat 
cakes, tow for cleaning the rifle, jerk, punk, flint and knocker to strike fire 
with, etc. Matches were first made in 1829, but were not used here for many 
years after that. The belt was tied behind ; it usually held the mittens, bullet- 
bag, tomahawk, and scalping-knife in its long buckskin sheath. The moccasin 
in cold weather was sometimes stuffed with feathers, wool, and dry leaves. 
The heavy early rifles carried about forty-five bullets to a pound of lead. 

The hand-to-hand conflicts of this noted hunter with panthers, bears, cata- 
mounts, wolves, elks, and bucks, both on the land and in the streams, if written 
out in full, would make a large volume. Elk and deer frequently took to 
the creeks, and a battle royal with knife and horns would have to be fought 
in the water. Long was several times mistaken while in a thicket for a wild 
animal, and careless hunters shot at him. Once his cheek was rubbed with a 
ball. Dozens of Indians and pale-faced men hunted in this wilderness as well 
as he, and the table giving an exhibit of the aggregate number of animals killed 
by Long during his life as a hunter only goes to show what a great zoological 
garden of wild animals this wilderness must have been. 

William Long died in Hickory Kingdom, Clearfield County, Pennsylva- 
nia, in May, 1880, and was buried in the Conway Cemetery, leaving two sons, 
— Jack, a mighty hunter, and a younger son, William. 

Peace to his ashes. In the haunts of this wilderness, scorched by the 
summer sun, pinched by the winds of winter wailing their voices like woe, 
separated for weeks at a time in his lonely cabins from the society of men 
and women, and then, too, awakened in the dark and dreary nights by 
the howl of the wolf, the panther's scream, and the owl's to-hoo ! to-hoo ! 
Long steadily, year in and year out, for sixty years pursued this wild, 
romantic life. 

THE HABITS OF SOME OF THE GAME LONG HUNTED 

Our bears cubbed in February, had two cubs at a birth, and these cubs 
were about the size of a brown rat, without hair, and blind for nine days. 
They were suckled by the mother for about three months, when they reached 
the size of a cat ; then the mother took them out and taught them to eat nuts, 
berries, bugs, little animals, green corn, vegetables, hogs, sheep, and sometimes 
cattle. A full-grown bear would weigh four hundred pounds. He was ex- 
ceedingly strong. He could carry a heavy burden and walk on his hind legs 

173 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

for a long distance. He was a good tree-climber and was not quarrelsome, 
but if other animals trespassed on his rights he became furious and vindictive. 

He frequently gnawed himself out of hunters' pens, was a bold, intelli- 
gent beast, and his meat was considered a delicacy by the hunters. 

Bears lived in " homes," holes, or dens, and sometimes in a rocky place 
there would be a " community." They, like deer, follow their own paths. 
He entered his den about Christmas time to hibernate, and remained there 




A female panther (Pennsylvania) two years old, not full grown 



until about the 1st of May, when he would come out, eat weeds and grass to 
purge himself, after which he would eat anything. 

Our pantherwas full}' as strong as the bear, but was rather cowardly, 
and especially fearful of dogs. A single blow from one forefoot or a bite 
from a panther would kill a dog. As a precaution, the panther hunter always 
had a trained dog with him, for a single bark from a dog would often scare 
a panther up a tree. The panther, as a rule, sought and sprang upon his 

1/4 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

victim in the dark. He could throw a buck, hog, or cow without a strug- 
gle. A panther attained sometimes a length of ten feet from nose to end of 
tail. They lived in dens and had two cubs at a time. 

Rowe, of Clearfield, says of the hunter Dan Turner, " Once, when going 
out to a ' bear wallow,' his attention was attracted by a panther acting in a 
strange manner. He soon saw a large bear approaching it. With hair erect 
and eyes glaring, the panther gnashed his teeth, and, waiting until bruin came 
up, sprang upon him. A mortal struggle ensued. Turner watched with much 
interest the fight, which lasted some ten minutes or more. At last the growls 
of the firece combatants became faint, and the struggle ceased. The panther 
slowly disengaged himself from his dead enemy and took position upon the 
carcass. It was now Turner's time, and, raising his rifle, he shot the panther 
in the head. After examining it, he was of the opinion that it could have 
lived but a very few minutes longer. Nearly every bone in its body was 
broken, and its flesh was almost reduced to a pulp by the blows and hugs of 
the bear." 

Our wolves always had their dens in the wildest, most hidden part of the 
wilderness. They always managed to get under the rocks or ground to shelter 
themselves and young from all storms. The male fed the female when the 
" pups" were small. He would travel a great distance in search of food, and 
if what he found was too heavy to carry home, he would gorge himself with it 
and go home and vomit it up for the family. The wolf and fox were very 
chary and hard to trap. But Long and other hunters knew their habits so 
well that they could always outwit them. 

A wolf could carry a sheep for miles in this way : seize it by the throat 
and throw it over or on his back. Wolves hunted the deer in packs ; they all 
hunted together until a deer was started. The pack would keep up the chase 
until they were tired ; then one wolf would keep up the chase at full speed, 
while the balance of the pack watched, and when the deer turned a circle, fresh 
and rested wolves struck in and pursued ; thus the deer was pursued alter- 
nately by fresh wolves and soon tired out, and would then fly to some stream ; 
the wolves would follow, and while the deer would remain in the stream 
the wolves would separate, a part of the pack forming in line on each side 
of the stream, when the deer would become an easy prey to these ravenous 
creatures. 

The most dangerous animal or reptile was the rattlesnake. We had 
two colors, — the black and yellow spotted. Millions of them inhabited these 
woods, and some were four and five feet long. Snakes, as well as other wild 
animals, travel and seek their food in the night. To escape this danger, each 
pioneer kept a large herd of hogs, who would kill and eat snakes with im- 
punity. Dogs, too, were faithful in this direction. But how did the woods- 
man and hunter escape? Well, he wore woollen stockings, moccasins with 
anklets, and buckskin breeches. A snake could not bite through these, and 
12 i 77 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

at night he usually laid his head on the bod\ oi His dog to protect his upper 
extremities 

h was seldom that the elk or deei had twins, 1'ho bear, panther, and 
wolf always had a littei Wolves reared in the same paek lived friendly, but 
strange males always fought, 

fhe deer, when frightened, eircled round and round, but never left his 
haunt, fhe oik would start on .1 trot, and never stop under ten or fifteen 
miles. 

The iv.u was and is a wanderer,, here to-da\ and away to-morrow. 
The woH and panthei wow fieree and shy. Deer killed the rattler in this 
way : humping themselves together, .uul jumping sideways on the snake with 
all fom feet, the hoofs of the deet would exit the snake in pieces, Elk navel 
in families or herds: the does load and the bucks bring up the rear, rhey 
browse in wintei and paw the snow for moss or wild grass, 

" When it is remembered that the Vmerican oik ofttimes attains a weight 
oi one thousand pounds, a height oi sixteen hands, ami has spiked antlers of 
w ... in length and four feet spread, some idea of the offensive capacities 
of one of these rearing, prancing, snorting creatures may be conceived, 

" It must also be remembered that an oik tights with his sharply pointed 

i hoofs, as woll as with his antlers, rearing on his hind logs and deliver- 
ing swift, terrific lunges tight out from the shoulder, 

" The bucks become dangerous each fall, at mating time, and in the 
befort •- horns drop off; for all male deer shed their horns each 
spring. By September the prongs are replaced. Each year the male oik 
sj ows ." extra prong upon his antlers, fhe expert may ascertain the age 
of the creature by counting the prongs However, if the antler should be 
broken oif during a fight, or through any accident, the broken side grows out 
next season as a straight horn, without the usual prongs, 

" During their seasons of anger the bucks will attack any living thing." 

\» WHUKS V\ ' VVO \ B5 N NOKt'UW KSrKRX ITW^ V VNIA 

rhe last bounty paid fbi wolves and panthers in Flk County as shown 
x . . - on file in the office of the county commissioners, 
>v J. R. Green, Novembers, tS-i. one; Jaraes Bennett Jr.. Oc 
. £ B 3 me \ J. Rummet December I,}, 18-4. one; J. K. Gre< 
,\ . 8 >ne; John Myers, December 14. >^~4. one; George Smith, 
\pril S. s vvo; Charles A. Brown, Decembe S S , one; O. B. Fiteh, 
\,, . 8 0. and this was the last wolf killed in Elk County. The 

. vvolf rep e» billed in Forest County was by Emanuel Dobson, Jonks 
Cownship 1884 fhe last wolf killed in McKean County was by J ^ 
Starks . 80$ V wolf is reported killed in tS86 fhe records show 

that .. woli was killed in . County in -.S.v \ wolf is reported kilUxl in 
Hog.-. Countv b\ I evi Kissinger in 8S5 

•-V 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Panthers. — Alexander Wykoff, February [8, 1X50, one; Thomas Dent, 
May 20, 1X50, one; Peter Smith, January 5, [852, one; E. G, Deering, 
February t8, 1852, one; Peter Smith, March 7, (853, six; Nelson Gardner, 
June j<), 1X57, one. These were all killed in Elk County, Nelson Gardner, 
who lived above Ridgway, killed the last panther in Elk County. 

During the thirties, when Jefferson County still embraced whal is now 
Forest and Elk Counties, the bounties paid for panther, wolf, fox, and wild-* 
cat scalps fell a little short of four hundred dollars a year. The last bounties 
paid for panthers and wolves killed in Jefferson County was in [856. The 

record is as follows: March lX, 1X5(1, Jacob Stahlman, one wolf; March 24, 
[856, Alike Long, live wolves; May 17, 1X5(1, Andrew Bowers, < iaskill Town- 
ship, one wolf; November i<), 1X5(1, Adam Hetrick, one panther, killed on 
Maxwell Run, in Polk Township, George Smith had chased this panther 
across the line of Elk into Jefferson County. The panther was an old and 
very large one. Fred. Hetrick, a great hunter, lived then at or near Green- 
briar, and this panther commenced to kill and feast on his slice]). The panther 
made the mistake of his lift'. Fred, knew at once what was killing his slice]), 
so he organized a hunting expedition against Mr. Panther, of himself, his son 
Adam, and four dogs. The dogs soon (reed the panther. Fred, shot him 

while on a limb, in the neck. The panther then sprang from the tree at the 
dogs, killing one and badly injuring the second. Me would soon have killed 
all four, hnl Adam gave him a second shot from (he rifle, and this shot killed 
the last panther in Jefferson County. 

It is reported that two panthers were killed on the Driftwood in what 
is now Cameron County by Isaac Rammage in 1X51. The last panther in 
what is now Forest County was killed at Panther Rocks in (848. A panther 
was killed in McKcan County by William Eastman and George Smith about 
185X or 1X59. The last panther killed in Warren County was in Condon 
Township, by Sylvester C. Williams, December iX, [863, and the last wolf 
killed in Warren Comity was by James Irwin in Mead Township, March 17, 
iXd(). The last panther killed iii Tioga County was in [841. 

" JACK LONG" 

Andrew Jackson Long, a son of William and Nancy Barletl Long, nie 
Mason, was horn in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, in iXji), on what is 
known and now called the I lorn farm. Me moved with his father to the 
neighborhood <>l falls Creek, in Clearfield County, when he was about twelve 
years old. I knew him from my boyhood, and visited with him in his home for 
two days in 1899, when he gave me the following facts in regard to his hunting 
career : 

I have killed six deer in a day, often four or live in a day. I have 
killed four panthers in a day, and twenty during my life. The last panther 
I killed was in [872. It was tin- largest one, and measured eleven feet from 

17') 



tusiVKX OF NOttTHWKSTKRN PENNSYLVANIA 

• i>i nose to end ■ l have killed about three hundred and fiftj bears 

In 1898 I kilK^l nine bears, I have killed about fifteen hundred deer. I 

>«• kilW about one hundred .uul r>t;\ wolves Fhe last wolves two in 

number I killed in t§8i, I have killed foxes, wild-eats, catamounts, etc., 

without number, 1 caught in traps twentj ottei and one black fos 

When hungrj wolves and bears will eat one anothei \ bear will 

t»^ht fot its cubs even to death; a •■ • will not Wolves make some fight 

then \, -.•.:■.;; but not .', close one \ large bear will kill a panther in a 

fight Bears have wallows, and have paths for miles to and from their dons. 

Phese paths are nsualb, bla ed on hemlock trees, Each bear, big or little, 

ivelling the same path, will bite (ho biased trees Wolves haw their paths 

no Wolves will kill a deei - theii young, cut it op, and burj it along 

their paths, Panthers wsxtallj have rom two to three cubs in September ol 

each yeai \ - - will eat onb. fresh meat 

" I haw •..-. , ■ athers until thej were abottt two \?ears old, when the) 
-,, ■■, vicious tad abe killed, t have tamed wolves and used them o 
tho same p >oses as e i o§ fhe> would follow ne i - clogs and hunted with 
»u\ but. gee wo y< - generally had to kill thenv Forbear-traps, 

I used \, ■•-,'■■ ; oundhog, and beef, for bah \ hear v\ patienth dig a 
whob - ; row alhog I haw found many deer horns in tlv woo< - 

v\ >\ combat . . '• ... ia\ v . from this fight In 

■S-.,; n\ • - > . \, grown panthers on Medix Run. In March 

, - e \vv,-. Pete Smitb smus N t>rey killed six full-grown 

patvthers in the sa ne neighbor!) dug eleven • all" 

\ idrew Jaekson I ongdied at bis home about two miles from D 

, S lOOO 




gygyg <b|**m ^o* <»o* <»o* ^o* <*q«» *o«> ^rv«» 
AfiTA Vr\* A/Hv»i ;•£*•< •AT,*: ;*iTA»i •KX*l +kS*. •k\* 

•v.y« »\iy» •xx* •XX* •V-f»' •W» r "•V-f •' •V-f • vov 

<»o^ <»o*> <»o^ «»o^ <»o«> <»o^ ^cm ^o^ »»o«> 



CHAPTER Vlll 



MM hi ii i VTB ROAD EARLY ROADS AMi TRAILS WIIV THE STATE ROAD WAS 
Maui THE FIRS'i VTTEMP1 TO OPEN THE ROAD LAWS, ETC., TOUCHING 
nil M'liii'.n THE SURVEY THE ROAD COMPLETED THE AC'J Of Till 
LEGISLATURE WHICH SANCTIONED THE BUILDING OP THE ROAD 

In 17(^1 and iy'),\ a State road through this wilderness i<> wlmi is now 
called Waterford was incepted, agitated, and legalized; but, owing i<> the 
Indian troubles "f 179*1 ''-'• '93< ■""' '94< ■'" efforts had i<> be stopped and 
.ill legal proceedings annulled and repealed, The [ndian troubles were 
settled in [794 hy war and purchases, and then legal steps were again taken 
in open up this greal northwest in 1795 : ""' ' 7'/'- The reader will please 
bear in mind thai Le Bceuf is now Waterford, Pennsylvania, Presque Isle 
is iiiiw Erie City, Pennsylvania, and Bald Eagle's Nesl is now Milesburg, 
( riiiic ( mmi v, Pennsylvania, 

EARLY KOAlis and TRAILS 

In 17&1 X5 the uliI State Road from the <-asi was opened through to 
Fori I'in in the wesl over whal had been previously a path, or whal was 
called Forbes's Trail. This trail passed through Bedford, Westmoreland, 
ami other counties, In those days the State surveyed and laid oul county 
seals and sold the lots. The lots were generally sold ai auction, All gov 

en aii stores, as well as groceries and goods of every description, were 

for a long lime carried from the east !<> the west on pack horses over trails. 
One man would sometimes drive a hundred horses. 

Guards from the militia were a necessity for their trains. Guards were 
also a necessity for the road surveyors and road makers. A body of about 
lift) militia was the usual number, and sometimes these soldiers would do 
some work as well as guard the road makers. Transportation was also cat 
rieil over Meade's Trail, which passed through Wesl Reynoldsville, in the 
same way. In 17X7 the only load from Fori I'ill lo Le Bceuf (now Water 
ford) was a trail or path through what is now Butler County and up the 
Mlegheny River, The turnpike over or across tin- old Forbes's Trail was 
finished to I 'ittshurg in 1X0;. 

In 17111 the greal problem was ,-i thoroughfare from the east to tin- north 
wesl. The defence of the western portion of the Stale from Indians required 
the State anil the national authorities to he constantly on the alert. On the 

. 181 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

28th of February, 1794, the Legislature passed an act for "raising soldiers 
for the defence of the western frontiers." Also at this time a combined 
effort of the nation and State was made to lay out a town at Presque Isle 
(now Erie) on Lake Erie. 



WHY THE STATE ROAD WAS MADE 

In order to protect these frontiers from the British and Indians a road 
through this wilderness seemed an absolute necessity, hence an act was 
passed through the Legislature previous to or in 1794, authorizing the 
surveying and making of a State road from Reading to Presque Isle (Erie 
City). Colonel William Irvine and Andrew Ellicott were the commissioners. 
These men were also commissioners to lay out the town of Erie (Presque 
Isle). The official instructions to the commissioners and Captain Denny 
were as follows : 

" Philadelphia, March 1, 1794. 
" Gentlemen, — In providing for the general defence of the frontiers, 
the Legislature has authorized me to form a detachment of troops, for carry- 
ing into effect the act directing a town to be laid out at or near Presque Isle : 
and as the subject of the commission to survey and lay out a road from 
Reading to Presque Isle may be promoted by the same measure, I have 
instructed Captain Denny, the commanding officer of the detachment, to 
grant to you as commissioners all the aid and protection that is compatible 
with a due attention to the particular charge which is confided to him. 
Under these circumstances, I trust you will find it convenient to proceed 
immediately in the execution of your work. 

" I am, gentlemen, 

" Your most obedient servant, 

" Thomas Mifflin. 
" To William Irvine and Andrew Ellicott. Commissioners for lay- 
ing out a road from Reading to Presque Isle." 

" Philadelphia. March 1. 1794. 
The Legislature having made provision for surveying and opening two 
roads. — one from Reading and the other from French Creek to Presque Isle. 
— it is obvious that the establishment of the town is intimately connected with 
those objects ; and, therefore, you shall deem it your duty to grant all the 
aid and protection to the respective commissioners and contractors employed 
in surveying and opening those roads that is compatible with due attention 
to the particular charge confided in you. 

*' Your most obedient servant, 

" Thomas Mifflin. 
" To Ebenezer Denny, Esq.. Captain of the Allegheny Company. &c." 

182 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

FIRST ATTEMPT TO OPEN THE ROAD 

Captain Ebenezer Denny, with a detachment of soldiers, was ordered by 
the government to accompany these men. On the arrival of Denny and the 
soldiers at what is now Franklin, Venango County, he discovered that the 
Indians were cross and ugly, and General Wilkins, in talking to Mr. Dallas, 
said, " The English are fixed in their opposition to the opening of the road 
to Presque Isle, and are determined to prevent it by the English and Indians." 
Orders were then given to Captain Denny to go no farther than Le Bceuf 
(now Waterford), and occupy two small block-houses, which had been 
erected for Commissioners Irvine and Ellicott. 

This was the first attempt to open up an east and west road through this 
wilderness. Governor Mifflin applied to the President for a thousand militia 
soldiers to enforce this work; but the President counselled peace. Work 
was suspended at Presque Isle, and it was not until in April, 1795, that all 
difficulties were removed and Colonel William Irvine and Andrew Ellicott 
resumed work. At this time Irvine commanded the troops and Ellicott had 
charge of the surveyors. 

LAWS, ETC., TOUCHING THE SUBJECT 

" ' An Act to provide for opening a road from near the Bald Eagle's 
Nest, in Mifflin County, to Le Bceuf, in the county of Allegheny,' passed April 
10, 1790, published in full in Bioren's ' Laws of Pennsylvania,' vol. vi. p. 24. 
The reference in the preamble of this act to a road ' in part laid out from 
Reading to Presque Isle,' is probably to an act passed April 11, 1793, appro- 
priating certain sums of money for laying out a large number of roads within 
the State. The following appropriation is made in the first section : ' For 
viewing and laying out a road from Reading to Presque Isle, one thousand 
three hundred and thirty-three dollars.' This act appears in Bioren's ' Laws,' 
vol. iv. p. 277 ct seq. It is possible, however, that the reference was intended 
to apply to a road from the Bald Eagle's Nest to the Allegheny River, which 
was surveyed and laid out under an act passed April 4, 1796, entitled ' An 
Act for laying out and opening sundry roads within this Commonwealth, 
and for other purposes.' This act will be found in full in Bioren's ' Laws,' 
vol. v. p. 187. By this act the governor was authorized and empowered to 
appoint ' three skilful persons to view the ground, and estimate the expense 
of opening and making a good wagon road from the Bald Eagle's Nest, or 
the end of the Nittany Mountain, to the town of Erie at Presque Isle.' 

"Under this last act the governor, on the 13th day of April, 1796, 
appointed William Irvine, Andrew Ellicott, and George Wilson commis- 
sioners to make the survey. Andrew Ellicott declined the appointment, and 
Joseph Ellicott was appointed in his place. These men met to examine the 
situation of the country at the Bald Eagle's Nest and at the end of Nittany 
Mountain, and determined to start at the Bald Eagle's Nest, now Miles- 

183 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

burg", Centre County. It appears, however, that William trvine returned 
homo, and George W ilson and Joseph Ellicott proceeded to make the survey. 

Their draft and report are among the records of the department, at Harris- 
hurg, and show their work from the Bald Eagle's Nest to the Allegheny 
River, a distance of one hundred and sixteen miles by their measurement. 

\itei reaching the Allegheny River. they say that in consequence of the 

failure of horses [gnats and tlies killed them], the scarcity of provisions, the 
advanced season of the year, and various other obstacles which retarded the 
prosecution of the business, they were compelled to relinquish the object of 

their mission, and have left above thiriv-si\ miles of the road unfinished,' " 



ftlK SURVEY 

The point on the Allegheny River where these surveyors stopped in the 
fall of t~oA> was on the land where Eli Holeman settled in iSoo. It is three 
miles below Tionesta borough. Forest County. Pennsylvania. For the twenty 
n. s of travel and traffic of emigrants and others over this old State Road 
each and all had to ford or cross this terry. The old State Road never 
passed through where Clarion now is. or through Franklin or Meadville. 
It passed through the wilderness away, north of these towns, but connected 
with other State roads running through them. All of the county histories 
which have been written prior to this one confound this road with the turn- 
pike, which was not finished or opened for traffic until November. 1S..-4. \t 
BrookviUe the turnpike survey in iStS took a separate and distinct southerly 
course from the old State Road, and passed through Franklin, Meadville. 
and so forth. 

fUK ROM) COMPLETED 

The road was official!}- taken from the contractors and a quietus entered 

the CO ' act V-. il 2, 1804. The course of the road through what is now 

Wins'ow Township was through Rathmel. down Sand) Lick to the south 

side, crossing the creek between Sandy Valley and near when.- West Rey 

..sville now is, where it deflected to the right over the hill, through the 

■ rtov occupied b\ Robert Waite. Ibis State Road was the great put . 

thoroughfare for emigrants from the east to the northwest tor a period of 

twenty vears, until the turnpike was finished in 1834. A portion of about 

seven miles is s s« icville to the Clarion County line, parallel 

with but north of tha he turnpike which extends from BrookviUe 

to Cors .-. 

SV\, OX.V g* -.-uk LRvUSlAlVRK 

The to"', g s the act wbicb authorised the building- of the State R 
of which this article is a histo- 

U<4 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" \\ ACT FOR l.wixc OUT \Nl> OPENING SUNDRY. ROADS WITHIN THIS COW 
MONWEALTH, VND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 

" Whereas, From the increasing population oi the northern and north- 
western parts of this State, it becomes expedient at tliis time to provide for 
the laying < mt and opening the necessary roads, for the accommodation of 
the same ; therefore, 

" Section t, />'<• it enacted by the Senate and lions,- of Representatives, 
(ir.. Thai the governor be, and he is hereby, authorized and empowered to 
appoint three skilful poisons to view the ground and estimate the expense of 
opening and making a good wagon road from the town of Northampton, 
in the county of Northampton, t<> the month of Tioga, in the county of 
Luzerne, and from thence, by the most practical route, to the northern 

line of this State; and three skilful persons to view the ground and estimate 
the expense of opening and making a good wagon road from the Bald 
Eagle's Nest, or the end of the Nittany Mountain, to the town of Erie, at 
Presque Isle; and to cause the said roads to lie surveyed and staked out by 
the most practicable routes; and also to cause drafts of the roads to he made 
in profile, and report to the Legislature the proportional parts of the expense 
that will he incurred in each county through which the said road will pass; 
provided that the commissioners thus appointed shall not stake out any part 
of the said roads when they may he carried on roads heretofore laid out and 
opened agreeably to the provisions of former laws of this State. 

" Section j. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That 
the governor be, and he is hereby, empowered to contract, either with indi- 
viduals, or with companies, for opening a road from Pittsburg, by the way ol 
Fort Franklin, to Le l'.ieuf, and to draw his warrant on the State Treasurer 
for a sum not exceeding two thousand dollars, to defray the expense of 
laying out the roads to Tioga and Erie; a sum not exceeding four thousand 
dollars, to defray the expense of opening the road from Pittsburg, by Fort 
Franklin, to I ,e 1'xeulT. Provided always, That all contracts to be made by 
virtue of this act shall be registered by the governor, according to the 
directions of the eighth section of the act, entitled ' An Act to provide for 
the opening and improving sundry navigable waters and roads within the 
Commonwealth,' passed the thirteenth day of April, one thousand seven 
hundred and ninety-one.* 

" Section 3. And be it fur/her enacted, etc.. That the governor be, and 
he is hereby, empowered to draw his warrant in favor of Joseph Horsefield 
for any sum not exceeding live hundred dollars, to be applied toward remov- 
ing the fallen timber and other obstructions in the road leading from Jacob 
Heller's tavern, in Northampton County, to Wilkesbarre, in Luzerne County. 

" 1'assed 4th April, ijijd." 

* For the act referred to in this section, see vol. iv. chap. [558. 

1 8s 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

CON I'RACT AND REPORTS 

I [ere is a copy o\ the contract ami the reports oi John Fleming re- 
lating to the road from Bald Eagle's Nest to Le Bceuff: 

"Articles ok Agreement made ami entered into this third day of 
July, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-nine, 
between Thomas Mifflin, Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, of 
the one part, and Samuel Miles and Roger Alden. of the City of Philadel- 
phia, Esquires, of the other part. 

"Whereas, In ami bj an Act of the General Assembly, entitled 'An 
Act to provide for opening a Road from near the Bald Eagle's Xest, in 
Mifflin county, to Le Bceuff, in the count) of Allegheny, 5 passed the tenth 
da\ of April, in the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-nine, the 
Governor is empowered to contract for opening and improving the said road 
in the manner and on the terms in the said act prescribed: A.ND WHEREAS, 
The said Samuel Miles and Roger Alden have made proposals for entering 
into the said contract upon principles which appear to the Governor most 
likely to accomplish the good purposes by the Legislature intended: Now 
rui'sr ARTICLES Witness, That the said Samuel Miles and Roger Alden. 
jointly and severally for themselves, their Heirs, Executors, and Adminis- 
trators, covenant, promise, and agree to and with the said Thomas Mifflin 
and his successors, Governors of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in 
consideration of the Covenant on behalf of the said Commonwealth herein- 
after made, That they, the said Samuel Miles and Roger Alden. their Heirs. 
Executors, and Administrators, shall and will, well and faithfully, and with 
all convenient diligence, open, extend, and improve the said Road in manner 
following. — that is to say: That the Road shall be opened generally of such 
width as to enable and admit two waggons to pass each other, except only in 
such place or places as from great natural difficulty of Mountains. Hills. 
Rocks, and Morasses shall render such an undertaking impracticable or 
unreasonably laborious and expensive, considering the public consideration 
therefor given. Rut in all such place or places there shall be a good passage 
of at least ten feet wide, with proper and convenient passing places in view: 
And that the said Contractors will advance by anticipation (if necessary) the 
sums of money requisite to open the said Road in the manner aforesaid. And 
the said Thomas Mifflin, in consideration of the Covenants and undertaking 
of the said Contractors, and by virtue of the power in the said Act of Assem- 
bly to him given, covenants, promises, and agrees to and with the said Samuel 
Miles and Roger Alden. their Executors, Administrators, and Assigns, that 
the\ shall have and receive the sum of Five Thousand Dollars, to be paid out 
of the first money arising from the sale of the reserved Lands & Lots at the 
["owns of Erie, Franklin, Warren, and Waterford: And tor which sum of 
Five "Thousand Dollars, the said Thomas Mifflin covenants, promises, and 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

agrees to draw his Warrant or Warrants on the State Treasurer in favor of 
the said Contractors. In Witness whereof the parties have hereunto set their 
respective hands & seals the day and year first above written. 

(Signed) "Samuel Miles, [seal] 

Roger Alden, [seal] 
"Sealed and Delivered Tuns. MlFFLlN. [seal] 

in the presence of 
A. W. Foster, 
J no. Miles." 

To the above contract appear the names of George Fox, James Phillips, 
and Tench Coxe as sureties for its " true, faithful, perfect, and diligent per- 
formance," and also the following endorsement on the back of the same: 

" The Governor, being satisfied, from three several reports of John 
Fleming, Esquire, (the two first dated on the 16th of December, 1801, & the 
10th of January, 1803, respectively; & the last without date, but delivered 
into the Secretary's Office in the month of January last,) that Samuel Miles 
& Roger Alden, Esquires, have completed their contract for opening a road 
from near the Bald Eagle's Nest to Le Bceuflf, by opening and improving the 
same agreeably to the terms of said contract, as far as could reasonably be 
expected from the situation and nature of the country through which said 
road passes, & the public consideration given therefor, this day directed a 
quietus to be entered upon the contract. 

(Signed) ' T. M. THOMPSON, Sec. 

" April the 2nd, 1804." 

" To ins Excellency Thomas McKean, Esquire, Governor of the Stale of 
Pennsylvania: 

" Sir, — In pursuance of your Excellency's letter appointing me a Com- 
missioner to view and report on that part of the State Road from Milesburg 
to Le Boeuff, which was undertaken to be opened by Col. Samuel Miles, I 
proceeded to Milesburg and viewed the said Road as shewn to me by Mr. 
Richard Miles, and beg leave to submit the following Report : 

" Beginning at Milesburg the road crosses Bald Eagle creek, over which 
is a sufficient wooden Bridge, thence up the said creek on the north side of it 
for five miles ; the road passable for waggons. Within these five miles, on 
the west side of Wallis's run, there is some wet ground a little swampy. 

" Leaving the Bald Eagle creek and thence to the foot of the Allegheny 
mountain, five miles, the Road is good excepting some trees that have fallen 
across it since it was opened. 

" Across the mountain is three miles. The ascent is one mile, of which 
240 perches are dug, in some places, nine feet wide. Toward the top it is tun 
steep for carriages. The descent of the mountain is about two miles and 
gradual. 

187 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" About one mile from the foot of the mountain is a small run difficult 
to pass. 

" Here I must beg leave to remark, as applicable to this as well as to other 
small runs that may be mentioned in this Report, that many very small streams 
in the country over which this road passes run in narrow channels, the bot- 
toms of which lie from one to three feet below the surface of the earth. A 
footman can step over man)- of them, where, from the nature of the soil at the 
bottom, a horse is in great danger of being mired. 

" After crossing the last-mentioned run there is a hill which in ascent 
there are thirty perches, and in descent twelve perches not passable for wag- 
gons for want of digging. Near this are two small runs, both difficult to 
pass. 

" To Phillipsburg from thence, a distance of more than eight miles, the 
Road is good, excepting some very swampy ground on the east of what is 
called the five mile run, and some miry ground at Coldstream, one mile from 
Phillipsburg. Some more work is necessary on the hill west of the five mile 
run. The whole distance from Milesburg to Phillipsburg is twenty-six miles. 

" Passing Phillipsburg one mile is Moshannon creek. It is not bridged 
nor is it fordable at the place where the Road crosses it at any season. There 
is some timber prepared at the place for a bridge. It is about six perches 
wide with steep banks. There is a Fording about half a mile below. Three 
miles further the road is good excepting a few wet places. Within two miles 
further there are two runs, the banks of which are dug, and the road is good. 

"Thence to Clearfield creek, four miles, some digging done in two places, 
and on the hill descending to Clearfield forty perches are well dug ; the road 
is good. 

" Thence to the Susquehanna river, five miles, the road good. The 
breadth of the river is twelve perches. 

'* Thence to Anderson's creek, nearly three miles, some digging done on 
Hogback hill. The road in general good. 

" Thence to a branch of Anderson's creek, about eight miles, several 
places dug and some bridges made : the road is tolerably good. More 
digging and bridges wanted. 

" Thence to the waters of Stump creek, about three miles, several bridges 
made and digging done in some places; the road good. 

" Thence five miles, crossing two ridges on each of which there is dig- 
ging done, and several runs, two of which are bridged. In the latter part of 
these five miles are two runs necessary to be bridged. With this exception the 
road is tolerably good. 

" Thence to a~" branch of Sandy Lick creek, about six miles, in several 
places the road is dug and some bridges made. The road tolerably good. 

" Thence about three miles ; several steep banks, deep runs and wet 
places ; road not passable. 

188 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" Thence to the end of Col. Miles' opening is four miles. The road good. 

" From Milesburg until the road crosses the Susquehanna the road is 
opened from sixteen to twenty feet wide, and from thence to the end it is 
opened from twelve to sixteen feet wide. The whole length of the road 
opened as aforesaid by Col. Miles is seventy-four miles and eighty-six perches. 

(Signed) " Jno. Fleming. 

" December 16, 1801." 

Only the commonest goods were hauled into this county from Phila- 
delphia over the old State Road. The freightage from Philadelphia to Port 
Barnett was about six dollars per one hundred pounds, and it took four weeks 
to come from Philadelphia. In 1800 wheat brought one dollar and a half a 
bushel, wheat flour four and five dollars per one hundred pounds, corn one 
dollar per bushel, oats seventy-five cents, potatoes sixty-five cents. Tobacco 
was sold by the yard at four cents per yard, common sugar thirty-three cents, 
and loaf (white sugar) fifty cents per pound. A hunter's rifle cost twenty- 
five dollars, a yoke of oxen eighty dollars, boots from one to three dollars, a 
pair of moccasins about three or four shillings. 

S. B. Rowe, in his " Pioneer History of Clearfield County," says, " The 
State, in order to connect the western frontier with the eastern settlements, 
had laid out several roads, among others one leading from Milesburg to Erie. 
This road was opened in the year 1803. It crossed the Susquehanna River 
near the residence of Benjamin Jordan. 

" The Milesburg and Le Bceuff road became subsequently an important 
and leading thoroughfare. It was a road of the worst kind, laid out with very 
little skill, and made with a great deal of dishonesty. It had but one bridge — 
at Moshannon — between Bellefonte and Anderson's Creek, and to avoid dig- 
ging the hill-side, Anderson's Creek was crossed three times in less than two 
miles. Large quantities of merchandise passed over it, principally upon pack- 
horses, companies of which, exceeding a score in number, might often be 
seen traversing it. Until the place of this road was supplied by an artificial 
road, located on or near its bed, it was the principal road leading to Erie and 
the great West. About the time the State Road was supplanted by the turn- 
pike the now almost forgotten Conestoga wagon, with its heavy horses, 
walking leisurely along, their tread measured by the jingling of bells, afforded 
cheaper and better mode of transportation for goods. A trip to Philadelphia 
to purchase goods or to ' see the sights' of that village was then quite an 
undertaking, and called for weeks of preparation." 

" To his Excellency Thomas McKean, Esquire, Governor of the Com- 
monwealth of Pennsylvania: 
" Agreeably to your Instructions received through the Secretary of the 
Commonwealth, I proceeded to review that part of the road leading from 

189 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Milesburg to Le Bceuff, opened by Major Roger Alden, and beg leave to 
submit the following report : 

"' Beginning at the west end of Col. Samuel Miles' opening, 

" 2 miles, a hill with some digging ; the road good. 

" 1 1/2 miles to the crossing of the north branch of Sandy Lick creek. 
The road good. 

" 9 m farther. The road good. 

" 4 m of rough road. There is in this distance four streams of water 
crossing it, with bad hills on each side of each of them. They are generally 
all dug that carriages may pass. 

*' 4 m farther to Toby's creek [Clarion River] : some digging done on 
the descent of the hill going down to the creek — the road tolerably good. 

"2 m farther to the hill descending to Little Toby creek [Venango 
County]. The road good. When I reported before, this descent to the 
creek was impassable with waggons ; since that time the road has been 
changed, and laid on better ground, and the road dug. The road good. 
West of the creek the road is somewhat difficult for carriages. 

" 4 m. The road passable for carriages. 

" i m. A hill descending to Licking creek, bad, as is also the hill on 
the west side of the creek. There is some digging clone here. These hills 
comprehend a distance exceeding a mile. 

" io m. Road good, lying on chestnut ridges. In this distance there is 
little difference in the road. 

" 4 m to the Allegheny river, lying over pine ridges, some of them steep. 
The hill to the river near a mile long. Since my last report some bridging 
and digging has been done. Passable for carriages. 

" 6 m from the crossing of the Allegheny river to Pithole creek. The 
road crosses several ridges, one of which is dug. 

" 2 m of good road. 

" 2 m of very swampy ground, principally bridged and causewayed. 
Passable with carriages. 

" 3 m to the crossing of the south-east branch of Oil creek. There are 
several bridges made in this distance. There is a good one across the creek. 
The road good. 

" 7 m to the crossing of the N. W. branch Oil creek. There are several 
bridges made in this distance. Since my last report the fording of the creek 
is changed for the better. 

i m. West of the creek for near a mile the road is altered, making 
the ascent of the hills that I noticed easier. They are still difficult for car- 
riages. 

"7 m to where this road intersects the public road from Pittsburg to Le 
Bceuff by the way of Franklin. In this distance the road in general is good. 
A number of bridges are made on it. 

190 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" 3 m to the crossing of Muddy creek — several bridges made. The road 
something wet. 

" 12 m to the crossing of French creek — a number of bridges made. 
*' 3 m to Le Bceuff — a number of bridges made, and the road good. From 
the intersection of the Franklin road to Le Bceuff the soil is generally wet. 

" I would generally observe that a considerable quantity of timber is fallen 
across the road, and the sprouts in such quantities grown up in many places, 
since the road was opened, as to render travelling difficult. There has not 
been any cutting done since I reported, unless where the road is changed in 
the two places before mentioned. 
" I am Sir, 

" Your Excellency's very humble servant, 

" John Fleming." 

An act making appropriation for certain improvements on this road 
in Erie, Crawford, Venango, Jefferson, and Armstrong Counties was passed 
in 1811, and appropriating two thousand four hundred dollars therefor. 

In 1749 the governor-general of Canada sent an expedition under Celeron 
de Bienville down what is now known as the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers, 
to take possession of the country in the name of the king of France. The 
command embraced two hundred and fifteen French and Canadian soldiers 
and fifty-five Indians. Father Bonnecamp, a chaplain of this expedition, 
drew a map of the route, locating the tribes of Indians, and giving the Indian 
names of the tributaries of these rivers and also the names of the Indian vil- 
lages. This manuscript map was deposited and is still in the archives of the 
Department de la Farine in Paris, and is styled " Map of a Voyage made 
on the Beautiful River in New Flanders, 1749, by Rev. Father Bonnecamp, 
Jesuit Mathematician." The map is very correct, considering all the circum- 
stances. It has been reproduced on a smaller scale by George Dallas Albert 
and published in *' The Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania," in vol. ii., with an 
explanation of the map, French names, and their corresponding American 
designations. In this map I find Riviere au Vermilion emptying into the 
Allegheny River, corresponding to the exact location of what is now called 
Red Bank Creek, and unfortunately translated by Mr. Albert as Mahoning 
Creek. On the Allegheny River going downward I find Riviere aux Bceuf, 
Beef, or Buffalo River, now called French Creek ; then Riviere au Fiel, — 
Gall River or Clarion River ; third, Riviere au Vermilion or Red Bank 
Creek ; fourth, a stream not named, which must have been Mahoning ; and 
then Attique, a village, or what is now Kittanning. Mr. Albert should 
have named the undesignated stream Mahoning and the Vermilion River 
Red Bank. 

In 1798 this stream was designated by legal statute as Sandy Lick or 
Red Bank Creek, but later by common acceptance the name Sandy Lick was 

191 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

applied to that portion above where the North Fork unites, and Rod Bank 
from Brookville to the month. 

" The first lot of lumber which Barnett and Scott sent down the Red 
Bank was a small platform of timber, with polos instead of oars as the pro- 
polling- power. There was a flood in this stream in tSo6 which reached eight 
or ten feet up the trees on the fiats. 

" One thousand dollars was appropriated by the act of Assembly ' making- 
appropriations for certain internal improvements.' approved March 24, 1817. 
for the purpose of improving this creek, and Levi Gibson and Samuel C. Orr 
were appointed commissioners to superintend the application of the money. 
By the act of April 4. 1826, ' Sandy Lick, or Red Rank Creek.' was declared 




a public highway only for the passage of boats, rafts, etc., descending it. 
That act also made it lawful for all persons owning lands adjoining this 
stream to erect mill-dams across it. and other water-works along it. to keep 
them in good repair, and draw off enough water to operate them on their own 
land, but required them ' to make a slope from the top. descending fifteen 
. for every foot the dam is high, and not less than forty feet in breadth." 
so as to afford a good navigation, and not to infringe the rights and privileges 
of any owner of private property. 

" The first flat-boat that descended this stream was piloted by Samuel 
Knapp. in full Indian costume. In 183.; or 1S33 two boats loaded with sawed 

103 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

lumber owned by Uriah Matson, which found a good market in Cincinnati, 
with the proceeds of which Matson purchased the goods with which he 
opened his store at Brookville." — History of Armstrong County. 

An act declaring the rivers Ohio and Allegheny, and certain branches 
thereof, public highways, — 

"Section i. Be it enacted, etc.. That from and after the passing of 
this act, the river Ohio, from the western boundary of the State up to the 
mouth of the Monongahela, Big Beaver Creek, from the mouth of the first 
fork in the seventh district of donation land, Allegheny River, from the 
mouth to the northern boundary of the State, French Creek to the town oi 
Le Boeuf, and Conewango Creek, from the mouth thereof to the State line, 
Cussawago Creek, from the mouth of the main forks, Little Coniate Creek, 
from the mouth up to the inlet of the little Coniate Lake, Toby's Creek, 
from the mouth up to the second fork (now Clarion River, and Johnsonburg 
was the second fork), Oil Creek, from the mouth up to the main fork, Broken 
Straw Creek, from the mouth up to the second fork, Sandy Lick, or Red Bank 
Creek, from the mouth up to the second great fork, be, and the same are 
hereby declared to be public streams and highways for the passage of boats 
and rafts ; and it shall and may be lawful for the inhabitants or others de- 
sirous of using the navigation of the said river and branches thereof to remove 
all natural obstructions in the said river and branches aforesaid." 

Passed March 21, 1798. Recorded in Law Book No. VI., page 245. 

The first fork was at Brookville's site, the second great fork was at 
I'ort liarnett. 

An act. No. 189, declaring Little Toby's Creek, Black Lick Creek, Little 
< )il Creek, and Clark's Creek public highways, — 

" Section i. Be it enacted, etc.. That from and after the passage of this 
act Little Toby's Creek, in the counties of Clearfield and Jefferson, from the 
mouth of John Shaffer's mill run, on the main branch of Toby's Creek, and 
from the forks of Brandy Camp (or Kersey Creek) to the Clarion River. 

* * * *. * # * * * 

be, and the same are hereby declared public highways for the passage of rafts, 
boats, and other craft, and it shall and may be lawful for, etc. (The same 
provisions follow here as in No. 129.) 

" Approved — the fourteenth day of April, a.d. one thousand eight hun- 
dred and twenty-eight. 

" J. Andw. Shultz, 

" Governor." 



13 193 



CHAPTER IX 



PROVISION FOR OPENING A ROAD — REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS TO THE 

GOVERNOR — STREAMS, ETC. 

" AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR OPENING A ROAD FROM NEAR THE BALD EAGLE'S 
NEST, IN MIFFLIN COUNTY, TO LE BCEUF, IN THE COUNTY OF ALLE- 
GHENY 

" Whereas, A road has, under the direction of the Legislature, been in 
part laid out from Reading and Presque Isle [a peninsula], and whereas, It 
is considered that opening and improving said road would be greatly con- 
ducive to the interests of the community by opening a communication with 
the northwest part of the State, and would much facilitate an intercourse with 
Lake Erie; 

" Section i. Therefore be it enacted, etc., That the governor be empow- 
ered to contract for the opening and improving of the road between the Bald 
Eagle's Nest and the Allegheny River to Le Bceuf. 

" Section 2. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That 
when it shall appear to the persons who may contract for the opening of said 
road that deviations from such parts of the road as laid out are essentially 
necessary, he or they shall be authorized to make such deviations, provided 
that such deviations do not depart materially from the survey already made. 

" Section 3. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That 
in order to carry this into effect the governor is empowered to draw his 
warrant on the State Treasurer for five thousand dollars, to be paid out of 
the sale of reserved lands and lots in the towns of Erie, Franklin, Warren, 
and Water ford." 

Passed April 10, 1799. Recorded in Law Book No. VI., p. 443. 



The Bald Eagle's Nest referred to above was Milesburg. The nest was 
not that of a bird, but that of an Indian warrior of that name, who built his 
wigwam there between two large white oaks. The western terminus of the 
road, then called Le Bceuf, is now known as Waterford, Erie County, Penn- 
sylvania. On the completion of the turnpike most of this road was abandoned 
in this county. ~Tt is still in use from Brookville, about seven or eight miles 
of it, to the Olean road north of Corsica. It passed through where Brook- 
ville now is, near or on what is now Coal Alley. It was a great thoroughfare 
for the pioneers going to the West and Northwest. 

194 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS WHO MADE THE SURVEY OF THE ROAD TO THE 

GOVERNOR 

" Whereas, In and by an Act of the General Assembly entitled ' An 
Act for laying out and opening sundry Roads within this Commonwealth 
and for other purposes,' it is among other things provided and declared, that 
your Excellency shall be empowered and required to appoint three persons 
as Commissioners, ' to view the ground and estimate the expense of opening 
and making a good Waggon Road from the Bald Eagle's Nest, or the end of 
Nittany Mountain, to the Town of Erie at Presque-isle, and to cause the said 




; .^^^^voggpjg 






— .0= 

Conestoga wagon 



Road to be Surveyed and staked out, by the most practicable Route, and 
also cause a draft of the survey to be made out in Profile, and to report to the 
Legislature the several parts of the expense that will be incurred in each 
County through which the said Road will pass : Provided, That the Com- 
missioners thus appointed shall not stake out any part of the said Road when 
it may be carried on Roads heretofore laid out and opened, agreeably to the 
Provisions of former laws of this State.' 

195 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" And Whereas, In pursuance of the power and authority given and 
granted in and by the said recited Act of Assembly, William Irvine, Andrew 
Ellicott, and George Wilson, Esquires, were by Letters Patent under your 
Excellency's hand, and the great Seal of the State, bearing date the thirteenth 
day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety- 
six, appointed Commissioners for the purposes aforesaid ; but the said 
Andrew Ellicott, Esq., hath since resigned the said appointment, and his 
resignation hath been duly accepted. 

" And Whereas, In pursuance of the power and authority given and 
granted in and by the said recited Act of Assembly, Joseph Ellicott was, by 
Letters Patent, under your Excellency's Hand and the great Seal of the State, 
bearing date the nineteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord one thou- 
sand seven hundred and ninety-six, appointed a Commissioner in the lieu and 
stead of the said Andrew Ellicott, Esq., who had resigned as aforesaid, and in 
conjunction with the said William Irvine and George Wilson, Esquires, the 
two other Commissioners for the purpose of viewing and laying out the said 
Road in manner as stated in and by the above recited Act of Assembly. 

" Now Therefore, The said George Wilson and Joseph Ellicott, two 
of the Commissioners appointed as aforesaid for the purposes aforesaid, beg 
leave to report : 

" I. That the said William Irvine, George Wilson, and Joseph Ellicott, 
the Commissioners appointed as aforesaid, in conformity to your Excel- 
lency's Instructions in pursuance of the above recited Act of Assembly, with 
all convenient dispatch, in the execution of the trust reposed in them, pro- 
ceeded to examine the situation of the Country at the Bald Eagle's Nest 
and to the end of Nittany Mountain, and having viewed the respective scites, 
they unanimously agreed to take their departure from the Bald Eagle's 
Nest. . As soon as this decision took place the said William Irvine left the 
other Commissioners and returned home. 

" II. That the said George Wilson and Joseph Ellicott then proceeded 
to view, survey, and stake out by a route, in their opinion, deemed the most 
practicable, a Road from the Bald Eagle's Nest toward the town of Erie 
at Presque-isle, and that they have ascertained the various courses and dis- 
tances, the topographical situation, &c, of the said Road for the length of 
one hundred and sixteen miles, as represented in and by the Draft in profile 
hereunto annexed. 

" III. That in consequence of the failure of Horses, the scarcity of 
Provisions, the advanced season of the year, and various other obstacles 
which retarded the prosecution of the business, they were compelled to relin- 
quish the object of their mission, and have left above thirty-six miles of the 
Road unfinished. 

" IV. That they have used their utmost diligence and attention to direct 
the course of the said Road over firm and level ground ; but that frequently 

196 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLAANIA 

became totally impracticable, and where the ascent and descent of hills and 
mountains became unavoidable they made use of an altitude level, and have 
so adjusted its course that in its greatest elevation or depression it never 
exceeds an angle of six degrees with the horizon : Hence it may easilv be 
inferred that considerable deviations from a straight line have necessarily 
occurred. 

" V. That the land in that part of Mifflin County through which the 
Road passes is generally of an indifferent quality. For a part of this dis- 
tance the Road passes over the declivities of the Allegheny Mountain and the 
Mushanon Hills. The country, however, for several miles between the sum- 
mit of the Allegheny Mountain and the Mushanon hills, and also that part 
of Huntingdon County which the Road intersects, is generally level and free 
from stones, well timbered with Hickory, White and Black Oak, Dogwood, 
Ash, Chestnut, Poplar, White Pine, &c, and upon the whole well calculated 
for settlements. The soil of that part of Lycoming County which is inter- 
sected by the Road is generally of a luxuriant quality, abounding in many 
places with Stone coal, well timbered with various species of wood, and 
adapted to the production of all kinds of grain, &c, peculiar to the climate. 

" VI. Your Commissioners with pleasure remark that from the Susque- 
hanna River at Anderson's Creek to the first navigable stream of Sandy Lick- 
Creek (a branch of Allegheny River) the portage along the said road is but 
twenty-two Miles. The road crosses Sandy Lick Creek about fifty miles 
from its junction with the Allegheny River, and from the Susquehanna to 
the North-Western branch of Sandy Lick Creek [Brookville] the portage is 
thirty-three miles. The North-Western branch discharges its waters into 
Sandy Lick Creek, about sixty perches below the place where it is intersected 
by the Road at the junction of the North-Western branch. The Sandy Lick 
Creek is as large as the Susquehanna River at Anderson's Creek, and the dis- 
tance of the said Creek from the Allegheny River is about thirtv-five miles. 
The Portage from the Susquehanna at Anderson's to Toby's Creek is fortv- 
nine miles. Toby's Creek is twenty-two perches wide, and its distance from 
the intersection of the Road to the Allegheny River is about forty miles. It is 
navigable for boats, rafts, &c, from the intersection of the Road to the Alle- 
gheny River and about fifty or sixty miles above the place of intersection. 
The portage from the Susquehanna to the Allegheny River at Sussunadohtaw 
is seventy-two miles, and for the greater part of the distance of these portages 
the Road passes through a rich and fertile country. 

" VII. That your Commissioners have formed their estimate of expenses 
upon the supposition that the said Road, as far as it has been surveyed, will 
be opened thirty feet in width ; sixteen feet in the middle to be cut and 
cleared as nearly level with the surface of the earth as practicable, but where 
digging and levelling on the sides of Hills and Mountains shall become 
necessary that a passage will be dug twelve feet wide, and that Bridges and 

197 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

causeways will be erected and formed over all miry places to enable Waggons 
to pass. 

" A general estimate of expenditures requisite in opening, clearing, dig- 
ging, levelling, erecting Bridges and forming causeways over the said Road. 

" The expenses in opening the Road through the County of Mifflin, com- 
mencing at the Bald Eagle's Nest and ending at the Big Mushanon Creek, 
nineteen miles & sixteen perches. 

" For opening, cleaning, digging, levelling, forming cause- ^ _ .. 
ways on the said Road and erecting a Bridge over the Little V , 

Mushanon in the said County. ) 

" The expenses in opening the Road through the County of Huntingdon, 
commencing at the Big Mushanon Creek and ending at the West branch of the 
Susquehanna River, twenty-one miles one hundred and fifty-seven perches. 

" For opening, clearing, digging, levelling, forming cause- ") 
ways on the said Road and erecting a Bridge over Alder Run in v 2643.37. 
said County. J 

" The expenses in opening the Road through the County of Ly- 
coming commencing at the West branch of Susquehanna and ending at the 
Allegheny River, seventy-two miles & 193 perches. 

" For opening, clearing, digging, levelling, and forming ) 

> / — I -).20. 

Causeways on the said Road. j 

" VIII. That the said Road in its whole length passes through one 
entire and uninterrupted Wilderness, and the expenses already incurred in 
the execution of the business have considerably exceeded the legal appropria- 
tion intended for its completion. 

" Geo. Wilson. 
Joseph Ellicott." 




sygya s^» «^*y» evrav» ««s g^ggya e^y» «^£?v» g^ya 
e«» eC^» ew «4raK» eJrate eO» ewa ew« eCite 



CHAPTER X 



PIONEER SETTLEMENT OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA PIONEER PENNSYLVANIA 

INDIAN TRADERS THE PIONEER ROAD BY WAY OF THE SOUTH BRANCH 

OF THE POTOMAC AND THE VALLEY OF THE KISKIMINITAS THE PIONEER 

ROAD FROM EAST TO WEST, FROM RAYSTOWN (NOW BEDFORD) TO FORT 

DUQUESNE (NOW PITTSBURG), A MILITARY NECESSITY GENERAL JOHN 

FORBES OPENS IT IN THE SUMMER AND FALL OF 1758 COLONEL GEORGE 

WASHINGTON OPPOSED TO THE NEW ROAD AND IN FAVOR OF THE POTOMAC 
ROAD DEATH OF GENERAL JOHN FORBES PIONEER MAIL-COACHES, MAIL- 
ROUTES, AND POST-OFFICES 

" Western Pennsylvania was untrodden by the foot of the white man 
before the year 1700. As early as 171 5 and 1720 occasionally a trader would 
venture west of the Allegheny Mountain, and of these the first was James 
Le Tort, who resided in 1700 east of the Susquehanna, but took up his resi- 
dence west of it, at Le Tort Spring, Carlisle, in 1720. Peter Chever, John 
Evans, Henry DeVoy, Owen Nicholson, Alexander Magenty, Patrick Burns, 
George Hutchison, all of Cumberland County; Barnaby Currin, John Mc- 
Guire, a Mr. Frazier, the latter of whom had at an early day a trading-house 
at Venango, but afterwards at the Monongahela, at the mouth of Turtle 
Creek, were all traders among the Indians. But no attempt had been made 
by the whites at settlements in the region now occupied by the several coun- 
ties west of the Alleghenies before 1748, when the Ohio Company was 
formed. This company sent out the undaunted Christopher Gist, in 1750, to 
explore the country and make report. He, it is said, explored the country 
' from the South Branch of the Potomac northward to the heads of the 
Juniata River, crossed the mountains, and reached the Allegheny by the 
valley of Kiskiminitas. He crossed the Allegheny about four miles above 
the forks, where Pittsburg now stands, thence went down the Ohio to some 
point below Beaver River, and thence over to the Muskingum valley.' The 
first actual settlement made was within the present limits of Fayette County, 
in 1752, by Mr. Gist himself, on a tract of land, now well known there as 
Mount Braddock, west of the Youghiogheny River. Mr. Gist induced eleven 
families to settle around him on lands presumed to be within the Ohio 
Company's grant. 

"The more southern part of Western Pennsylvania (Greene, Washing- 
ton, Fayette, and part of Somerset), which was supposed to be within the 

199 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

boundaries of Virginia, was visited by adventurers from Maryland prior to 
1754. Among these were Wendel Brown and his two sons and Frederick 
Waltzer, who lived four miles west of Uniontown. David Tygart had settled 
in the valley which still bears his name in Northwestern Virginia; several 
other families came here a few years afterwards. These were the only set- 
tlements attempted prior to Braddock's defeat, and those made immediately 
afterwards, or prior to 1760, were repeatedly molested, families murdered, 
cabins burnt, and, for a time, broken up, alternately abandoned and again 
occupied. 

" The treat)' of 1762 brought quiet and repose to some extent to the 
English colonies, and the first settlers on the frontiers returned to their 
abandoned farms, but they were soon again obliged to leave their homes and 
retire for safety to the more densely settled parts. Bouquet prosecuted his 
campaign with success against the Indians, and in November, 1764, compelled 
the turbulent and restless Kvashuta to sue for peace and bury the hatchet on 
the plains of Muskingum, and finally humbled the Delawares and Shawnees. 
Soon after, the refugee settlers returned to their cabins and clearings, resumed 
their labors, extended their improvements, and cultivated their lands. From 
this time forth the prosperity of Pennsylvania increased rapidly, and the tide 
of immigration with consequent settlements rolled westward, though the 
pioneer settlers were afterwards greatly exposed. 

'* Previous to 1758, Westmoreland was a wilderness trodden by the 
wild beast, the savage, and, like other portions of Western Pennsylvania, by 
an occasional white trader or frontiersman. No settlements were attempted 
prior to this date, when Fort Duquesne, afterwards Fort Pitt, was abandoned 
by the French, became an English military post, and formed a nucleus for 
an English settlement, and two years afterwards (1760) a small town was 
built near Fort Pitt, which contained nearly two hundred souls, but on the 
breaking out of the Indian war, in 1763, the inhabitants retired into the fort, 
and their dwellings were suffered to fall into decay. In 1765, Pittsburg was 
laid out." — History of Western Pennsylvania. 

This southern exploration was through what is now Somerset, Fayette, 
Westmoreland, and Allegheny Counties. In 1754 Lieutenant-Colonel George 
Washington, then twenty-one years old. penetrated this wilderness and im- 
proved this road. In 1755 General Braddock, accompanied by Washington, 
marched his army over this road. Hence the road has always been called 
Braddock's road. 

The pioneer road from east to west was opened up in September, 1758, 
by General John Forbes. He commanded an army of about eight thousand 
men. General Forbes marched in the spring from Philadelphia with his 
troops to Raystown (now Bedford), but on account of the smallpox in his 
armv he was detained at Carlisle, and failed to reach what is now Bedford 
until the middle of September. At a consultation of his officers at this point 

200 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

it was decided to cut out a new road over the mountains from Raystown to 
Loyalhanna, now in Westmoreland County, a distance of forty-five miles. 

This new road passed through what is now Bedford, Somerset, and 
Westmoreland Counties. Colonel Bouquet, with twenty-five hundred men. 
cut out the road in September and October of that year. 

Colonel Washington was at this consultation, and was opposed to the 
new road. Washington's arguments in favor of the southern route were 
as follows : 

" Camp at Fort Cumberland, August 2, 1758. 

" Sir, — The matters of which we spoke relative to the roads have, since 
our parting, been the subject of my closest reflection, and so far am I from 
altering my opinion that the more time and attention I bestow the more I am 
confirmed in it, and the reasons for taking Braddock's road appear in a 
stronger point of view. To enumerate the whole of these reasons would be 
tedious, and to you, who are become so much master of the subject, unne- 
cessary. I shall, therefore, briefly mention a few only, which I think so 
obvious in themselves, that they must effectually remove objections. 

" Several years ago the Virginians and Pennsylvanians commenced a trade 
with the Indians settled on the Ohio, and, to obviate the many inconveniences 
of a bad road, they, after reiterated and ineffectual efforts to discover where a 
good one might be made, employed for the purpose several of the most 
intelligent Indians, who, in the course of many years' hunting, had acquired a 
perfect knowledge on these mountains. The Indians, having taken the great- 
est pains to gain the rewards offered for this discovery, declared that the path 
leading from Will's Creek was infinitely preferable to any that could be made 
at any other place. Time and experience so clearly demonstrated this truth 
that the Pennsylvania traders commonly carried out their goods by Will's 
Creek. Therefore the Ohio Company, in 1753, at a considerable expense, 
opened the road. In 1754 the troops whom I had the honor to command 
greatly repaired it. as far as Gist's plantation, and in 1755 it was widened 
and completed by General Braddock to within six miles of Fort Duquesne. 
A road that has so long been opened and so well and so often repaired must 
be much firmer and better than a new one, allowing the ground to be equally 
good. 

" But supposing it were practicable to make a road from Raystown quite 
as good as General Braddock's, I ask. have we time to do it? Certainly not. 
To surmount the difficulties to be encountered in making it over such moun- 
tains, covered with woods and rocks, would require so much time as to blast 
our otherwise well-grounded hopes of striking the important stroke this 
season. 

" The favorable accounts that some give of the forage on the Ravstown 
road, as being so much better than that on the other, are certainly exaggerated. 
It is well known that on both routes the rich valleys between the mountains 

201 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

abound with good forage, and that those which are stony and bush) are desti- 
tute of it. Colonel Byrd and the engineer who accompanied him confirm this 
fact Surely the meadows on Braddock's road would greatly overbalance 
the advantage of having grass to the foot of the ridge, on the Raystown road; 
and all agree that a more barren road is now hero to be found than that from 
Raystown to the inhabitants, which is likewise to he considered. 

" Another principal objection made to General Braddock's road is in 
regard to the waters. But these seldom swell so much as to obstruct the 
passage, The Youghiogheny River, which is the most rapid and soonest 
tilled. 1 have crossed with a hodv of troops after more than thirty days almost 
continued rain. In tine, any difficulties on this score are so trivial that they 
really are not worth mentioning. The Monongahela. the largest of all these 
rivers, may. if necess.i ; easily be avoided, as Mr. Fraxier, the principal guide, 
informs me. by. passing a defile, and even that, he says, may be shunned. 

Vgairt, it is -aid there are many defiles on this road. 1 grant that there 
are some, hut 1 know of none that may not he traversed, and 1 should be glad 
to be informed where a road can he bad over these mountains not subject to 
the same inconvenience. The shortness of the distance between Raystown 
and Loyal llanna is used as an argument against this road, which hears in 
it something unaccountable to me, for 1 must beg leave to ask whether it 
requires more time or is more difficult and expensive to go one hundred and 
forty-five miles on a good road already made to our bands than to cut one 
hundred miles .mew. and a great part of the way over impassable mountains. 

" That the old road is many miles nearer Winchester in Virginia and 
Fort Frederick in Maryland than the contemplated one is incontestable, and 
I will here show the distance from Carlisle by the two routes, fixing the 
different stages so ne of which 1 have from information only, hut others 1 
believe to be exact: From Carlisle to Fort Duquesne by way of Raystown, 
193 miles: from Carlisle to Fort Duquesne by. way of Con Frederic and 
Cumberland, 21a utiles. 

" From this computation there appears to be a difference of nineteen 

utiles only. Were all the supplies necessarily to come from Carlisle, it is 

well known that the goodness of the old road is a sufficient compensation tor 

the shortness of the other, as the wrecked and broken wagons there clearly 

-.strate." — 7":.' ," . . .":'■•:.-. \.- 

For many years all government supplies for western torts, groceries, 
salt and § dsof every kind, were carried from the East on pack-horses over 
this Forbes - One man would sometimes have under bis control from 
fifty to one hundred pack lOrses A panel pack-saddle was on each horse, 
and the load s« «i - about two hundred pounds. Forts were estab- 
lishes along the line of the road, and guards from the militia accompanied 
these horse-trains, gui ig them by night in their "encai ents" 

. . ig them by day through and over the . - ...ins. 

90a 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

This Braddock's road and the Raystown road were nothing more than 

(rails or military roads, and it was not until I 7K4 or 17X5 that the Stale opened 
a load from the cast (o the west over b'orbes's military trail. 

General John Forbes died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 15, 

' 75<>- 

( >nc hundred years ago this pioneer mad was crowded l>\ carriers with 
their pack-horses going westward, laden with people, salt, iron, ami merchan 
dise. In fact, the pioneers of Lawrence, Mercer, Butler, Crawford, and 

Venango came mostly over this road. 

"The pack-horses then travelled in divisions of twelve or fifteen, going 
single-file, each horse carrying about two hundred-weight; one man pre 
ceded and one brought up the rear of the file. Later on the carriers, to their 

hitter indignation, were supplanted by the Conestoga wagons | sec p. 1 < >5 | , 
with their proud six-horse teams, with huge helled collars, the wagon stored 
with groceries, linens, calico, rum, molasses, and hams, four to live Ions of 
load; by law none of these wagons had less than four-inch tires on its wheels." 
From 17X4 to 1834 was (he stage-coach era in this country. In the year 
i.So_> the government started a line of coaches between Philadelphia and New 
York, carrying their own mail. The fare of each passenger, all through, was 
four dollars, hour pence per mile was charged for way passengers. < hie 
hundred and fifty pounds of baggage, equal to one passenger, was sent at Ihe 
risk of persons who forwarded the same. This was continued for three years, 
clearing an average yearly profit of four thousand dollars. In (834 the 
Postmaster-General and the government preferred railroad transportation 
where it could hi' had. The governmenl required from the railroads a sched- 
ule lime of thirteen miles an hour for Ihe mails. I give, as near as I can learn, 
the pioneer, individual stage-coach mail-lines: 

"PHILADELPHIA and PITTSBURGH MAIL STAGES 
"A line of stages being established and now in operation to and from 
each of the above places. This line will start from John Tomlinson's Market 
street, Philadelphia, every Friday morning, via 1 larrisburgh and ( hambcrs- 
burgh, to Pittsburgh, and perform the trip in 7 days. It will also start from 
Thomas Ferree's the Fountain [nn, Water-street, Pittsburgh, every Wednes- 
day morning, same rout to Philadelphia, and perform the trip in 7 days; 
I 'are — Passengers 20 dollars and jo lb. baggage free; all extra baggage or 
packages, if of dinicntions such as to be admitted for transportation by this 
line, to pay 12 dollars per coo lb. the baggage or the packages to be at the 
owner's own proper risque unless especially receipted for by One of the pro 
prietors, which cannot be done if the owner is a passenger in the stage, same 
trip. These stages are constructed to carry three passengers on a seat, and 
more never shall he admitted. 

" This line will also leave John Tomlinson's as above every Tuesday 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

morning for Chambersburgh, making the trip in - ,l .- days, and leave Mr. 
Hetrick's tavern in Chambersburgh, every Wednesday al noon, for Philadel- 
phia, ami make the nip in aj4 days; faro 9 dollars ami 50 cents, under the 
same regulations as above, 

" rhe public will perceive by this establishment, that they have a direct 
conveyance from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh once a week, and from Phila- 
delphia and Chambersburgh twice a week. 

" The proprietors being determined that their conduct shall he such as 
to merit support in their line. 

" John Tomi inson i\ Co. 
" Jul\ 3rd, tSo4. M 

'* PHILADELPHIA VND PITTSBURGH MAIL STAGES 

" The Proprietors 

" With pleasure now inform the public that they run their line of stages 
twiee in the week to and from the above plaees. 

" They leave John Tomliuson's Spread Eagle, Market-street. Philadel- 
phia, every Tuesday and Friday morning, at 4 o'clock, and Thomas Ferry's 
Fountain Inn. Water-street, Pittsburgh, every Wednesday and Saturday 
morning, perform the trip in seven days. Fare each passenger 20 dollars; 14 
lbs. of baggage free: extra baggage to pay ij 1 .- cents per lb. This line runs 
through Lancaster, Elizabeth Town, Middle Town. Harrisburgh, Carlisle. 
Shippensburgh, Chambersburgh, MeConnelFs-town, Bedford, Somerset. 
Greensburgh, &c, 

" John Tomi inson & Co. 

" Nov. 9th, 1804." 

The first cab was used in Paris in 1823; the first omnibus in 1S27. From 
Philadelphia eta Harrisburg by road was two hundred and ninety miles: via 
Yorktown, two hundred and eighty-eight miles. 

In the summer of 1835, the usual trip from Philadelphia to Pittsburg, b> 

canal and the portage railroad, was made in three and one-halt days. 

PIONEER MAIL-ROUTES VNP POST-OFFICES — EARLY MAIL-ROUTES AND POST- 
OFFICES — IK VNSMISSION OF MONEY ttBROUGH MAILS AND OTHERWISE 

The pioneer post-office was established in this State under an aet of 

Assembly, November _\~. t~oo. — viz.: 

" \N VCT IVK ERECTING AND ESTABLISHING A POST OFFICE 

" Whereas, "The King and the late Queen Mary, by their royal letters 
patent under the great seal of England, Waring date the seventeenth of Feb- 
ruary, which was in the year one thousand and six hundred and ninety-und- 
one, did grant to Thomas Xeal. Esquire, his executors, administrators and 

AM 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

assigns, full power and authority to erect, settle and establish within ili< 
King's colonies and plantations in America, one or more office or offices for 
receiving and dispatching of letters and packets by post, and to receive, send 
and deliver the same, under such rales and sums of money as shall he 
agreeable to the rates established by act of parliament in England, or as the 
planters and others should agree to give on the first settlement, to have, hold 
and enjoy the same for a term of twenty-one years, with and under such 
powers, limitations and conditions as in and by the said letters patent may 
more fully appear ; 

" And zvhereas, The King's Postmaster General of England, at the 
request, desire and nomination of the said Thomas Neale, hath deputed An- 
drew Hamilton, Esquire, for such time and under such conditions as in his 
deputation is for that purpose mentioned, to govern and manage the said 
General Post < )ffice for and throughout all the King's plantations and colonies 
in the main land or continent of America and the islands adjacent thereto, 
and in and by the said deputation may more fully appear: 

" And whereas, The said Andrew Hamilton hath, by and with the good 
liking and approbation of the Postmaster General of England, made applica- 
tion to the proprietary and governor of this province and territories and 
freemen thereof convened in general assembly, that they would ascertain and 
establish such rates and sums of money upon letters and packets going by 
post as may be an effectual encouragement for carrying on and maintaining 
a general post, and the proprietary and governor and freemen in general 
assembly met, considering; that the maintaining of mutual and speedy corre- 
spondencies is very beneficial to the King and his subjects, and a great encour- 
agement to the trade, and that the same is best carried on and managed by 
public post, as well as for the preventing of inconveniences which heretofore 
have happened for want thereof, as for a certain, safe and speedy dispatch, 
carrying and recarrying of all letters and packets of letters by post to and from 
all parts and places within the continent of America and several parts of 
Europe, and that the well ordering thereof is matter of general concernment 
and of great advantage, and being willing to encourage such a public benefit: 
(Section r.) Have therefore enacted, and be it enacted, etc., That 
there be from henceforth one general letter office erected and established within 
the town of Philadelphia, from whence all letters and packets whatsoever may- 
be with speed and expedition sent into any part of the neighboring colonies and 
plantations on the mainland and continent of America, or into any other of the 
King's kingdoms or dominions, or unto any kingdom or country beyond the 
seas; at which said office all returns and answers may likewise be received, 
etc., etc." 

The pioneer mail-route through this wilderness was over the old State 
Road; it was established in 1805. It was carried on horseback from Belle- 
fonte to Meadville. The law declared then that " No other than a free white 

205 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

person shall be employed to convey the mail. Fifteen minutes shall be allowed 
for opening and closing the mails at all offices where no particular time is 
specified. For every thirty minutes' delay (unavoidable accidents excepted) 
in arriving after the time specified in the contract, the contractor shall forfeit 
one dollar; and if the delay continues until the departure of any depending 
mail, whereby the mails destined for each depending mail lose a trip, an addi- 
tional forfeiture of five dollars shall be incurred." 

The route was over the State Road to what is now the Clarion line ; from 
there over a new road to the Allegheny River or Parker's Ferry, now Parker's 
City ; up the river to Franklin, and from there to Meadville. The pioneer con- 
tractor's name was James Randolph, from Meadville. The next contractor 
was Hamilton, from Belief onte ; then by Benjamin Haitshour and others, 
until the turnpike was completed, when the first stage contract was taken by 
Clark, of Perry County. He sent on his coaches by John O'Neal, and from 
that time until the present the mail has been carried through this wilderness ; 
and in 1812 we got our news from a Meadville paper, edited by Thomas 
Atkinson, called the Crawford Weekly Messenger. The nearest post-office 
west was Franklin, and east was Curwinsville. All papers were carried outside 
the mail and delivered by the mail-carrier. Our nearest post-office south was 
at Kittanning, Armstrong County, and when any one in the neighborhood 
would go there they would bring the news for all and distribute the same. 

I cannot give the pioneer contractor (route, service, and compensation) 
for mail service through Butler, Mercer, Crawford, Venango, and Warren 
Counties, Pennsylvania, because the records of the United States Post-Office 
were almost entirely destroyed hy fire in the year 1836, and the earliest trace 
of the above service is found in a printed advertisement for proposals for 
carrying the mails on route No. 161, Pittsburg, by Butler, Mercer, Meadville, 
Crawford, and Le Bceuf, to Presque Isle, once a week, from April 1, 1809, to 
March 31, 181 1, the advertisement being dated October 31, 1808. In a sub- 
sequent advertisement this route is shown as having been changed to end at 
Erie instead of Presque Isle. It is assumed that contracts were awarded for 
the above service, but owing to the destruction of the records the facts are 
not known nor can the names of the contractors be given. 

The earliest permanent records of the Department show that a contract 
was made with J. B. Curtis & Co., of Mercer, for service from 1832 to 1836, 
on route No. 1169, Pittsburg to Erie, one hundred and twenty-eight miles, 
daily, in four-horse post-chaise, and route No. 1174, Pittsburg to Mercer, 
fifty-five miles, twice a week, the compensation being two thousand seven hun- 
dred dollars per annum for both routes, and that a contract was made for the 
same period with Bradley Winton, of Meadville, for service on route No. 
1 190, Meadville to Warren, sixty-one miles, once a week, compensation two 
hundred and thirty dollars per annum. 

In 181 5 the United States had three thousand post-offices. The postage 

206 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

for a single letter, composed of one piece of paper, under forty miles, eight 
cents ; over forty and under ninety miles, ten cents ; under one hundred and 
fifty miles, twelve and one-half cents ; under three hundred miles, seventeen 
cents ; under five hundred miles, twenty cents ; over five hundred miles, 
twenty-five cents. The law was remodelled in 1816 and continued until 1845, 
as follows, — viz. : Letters, thirty miles, six and one-quarter cents ; over thirty 
and under eighty miles, ten cents ; over eighty and under one hundred and 
fifty miles, twelve and one-half cents ; over one hundred and fifty and under 
four hundred miles, eighteen and three-quarter cents ; over four hundred 
miles, twenty-five cents. If the letter weighed an ounce, four times these 
rates were charged. Newspaper rates, in the State or under one hundred 
miles, one cent ; over one hundred miles or out of the State, one and one-half 
cents. Periodicals, from one and one-half to two, four, and six cents. A por- 
tion of the records of the Postmaster-General's office at Washington were 
destroyed by fire in the year 1836 ; but it has been ascertained that an adver- 
tisement was issued May 20, 1814, for once-a-week service on route No. 
51, Bellefonte to Franklin, Pennsylvania, from January 1, 1815, to December 
31, 1817, Jefferson Court-House being mentioned as an intermediate point; 
that on May 26, 1817, an advertisement was issued for service between the 
same points from January 1, 1818, to December 31, 1819; and on May 26, 
18 19, service as above was again advertised from January 1, 1820, to Decem- 
ber 31, 1823; the service during these years connecting at Franklin with 
another route to Meadville. 

Owing to the incompleteness of the records of the office at Washington, 
for the reason above stated, the names of all the contractors prior to 1824 
cannot be given ; but under advertisement of June 10, 1823, for once-a-week 
service on route No. 158, Bellefonte to Meadville, from January 1, 1824, to 
December 31, 1827, contract was made with Messrs. Hayes and Bennett, of 
Franklin, Pennsylvania, at the rate of sixteen hundred dollars per annum. 

From the best information at hand, it appears that a post-office was 
established at Port Barnett, Pennsylvania, January 4, 1826, the name changed 
to Brookville, September 10, 1830 ; that from the date of the establishment 
of the post-office to December 31, 1839, the office was supplied by star route 
from Bellefonte to Meadville, Pennsylvania, Messrs. Bennett and Hayes 
being the contractors to December 31, 1831, Messrs. J. and B. Bennett to 
December 31, 1835, and Mr. Benjamin Bennett to December 31, 1839. 

From January 1, 1840, Brookville was supplied by route from Curwens- 
ville to Meadville, Pennsylvania (the service having been divided on Cur- 
wensville, the eastern route being from Lewistown via Bellefonte and other 
offices to Curwensville), Mr. Jesse Rupp being the contractor to Tune 30, 
1844, and Mr. John Wightman to June 30, 1848. 

Prior to 1826, or the completion of the turnpike, there was no post-office 
in Jefferson County. Not until Jefferson County had been created for twenty- 

207 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

two and the pioneers had been here for twenty-five years was a post-office 
opened. The second mail-route in Jefferson County commenced at Kit- 
tanning, Pennsylvania, and ended in Olean, New York. The route was one 
hundred and ten miles long. It was established in 1826. Roswell P. Alford, 
of Wellsville, Ohio, was the contractor and proprietor. The mail was to be 
carried through once a week, and this was done on horseback, and the pay for 
this service was four hundred dollars a year. The following-named post- 
offices were created in this county to be supplied by the carrier on his route : 

Port Barnett, Pine Creek Township, January 4, 1826; Joseph Barnett, 
postmaster. 

Montmorenci (now Elk County), Ridgway Township, February 14, 
1826; Reuben A. Aylesworth, postmaster. 

Punxsutawney, Young Township, February 14, 1826; Charles R. Barclay, 
postmaster. 

Hellen (now Elk County), Ridgway Township, April, 1828; Philetus 
Clarke, postmaster. 

Brockwayville, Pine Creek Township, April 13, 1829, Alonzo Brockway, 
postmaster. 

From the information at hand it appears that an advertisement was issued 
in the year of 1825 for proposals carrying the mails on star route No. 79, 
from Bellefonte, by Karthaus, Bennett's Creek, Brockway, Gillett's, and 
Scull's, to Smithport, Pennsylvania, once in two weeks, from January 1, 1826, 
to December 31, 1827; and that in 1827 an advertisement was issued for 
service on route No. 219, from Bellefonte, by Karthaus, Fox, Bennett's 
Branch, Ridgway, Gillett's, Scull's, Montmorenci, Sergeant, and Smithport, 
Pennsylvania, to Olean, New York, once a week, from January 1, 1828, to 
December 31, 1831. 

There is no record showing the contractors during the above terms. 

In the year 1831 an advertisement was issued for star route No. 1127, 
from Bellefonte, by Milesburg, Karthaus, Bennett's Branch, Fox, Kersey, 
Ridgway, Montmorenci, Clermontville, Smithport, Allegheny Bridge, Penn- 
sylvania, and Mill Grove, New York, to Olean, New York, once a week, from 
January 1, 1832, to December 31, 1835, and the contract was awarded to Mr. 
James L. Gillis, of Montmorenci, with pay at the rate of six hundred and 
seventy-four dollars per annum. 

In 1835 an advertisement was issued for service on route No. 1206, from 
Bellefonte, by Milesburg, Karthaus, Bennett's Branch, Caledonia, Fox, Ker- 
sey, Ridgway, Williamsville, Clermontville, Smithport, Farmers Valley, Alle- 
gheny Bridge, Pennsylvania, and Mill Grove, New York, to Olean, New York, 
once a week, from January 1, 1836, to December 31, 1839, and the contract 
was awarded to Mr. Bernard Duffey (address not given) at six hundred and 
twenty-eight dollars per annum. 

In 1839 an advertisement was issued for service on route No. 1593, from 

208 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Bellefonte, by Milesburg, Karthaus, Caledonia, Fox, Kersey, Ridgway, Wil- 
liamsville, Clermontville, Smithport, Farmers Valley, Allegheny Bridge, Penn- 
sylvania, and Mill Grove, New York, to Olean, New York, once a week 
between Bellefonte and Smithport, and twice a week the residue of route, from 
January I, 1840, to June 30, 1844, an d the contract was awarded to Mr. 
Gideon Ions (address not given) at eight hundred and forty-five dollars per 
aanum. 

Like every other business in those days, the postmaster trusted his patrons, 
as the following advertisement exhibits, — viz. : 

" All persons indebted to C. J. Dunham for postage on letters or news- 
papers are notified to call and pay off their bills to James M. Steedman, or 
they may look for John Smith, as no longer indulgence can or will be given. 

" February 18, 1834." 

Barter was taken in exchange for postage. In those days uncalled-for 
letters were advertised in the papers. The pioneer advertisement of letters 
was in the Philadelphia Gazette, March 26, 1783. 

In the thirties distance governed the postage on letters up to four hun- 
dred miles and more. The price of such a letter was twenty-five cents. The 
postmaster, who was also a merchant, took produce for letters the same as 
for goods, and for postage on such a letter as named would receive two 
bushels of oats, two bushels of potatoes, four pounds of butter, or five dozen 
eggs. To pay the postage on thirty-two letters, such as named, the farmer 
would have to sell a good cow. " In early times it was death by the law to 
rob the United States mails.'' 

In the pioneer days, or previous to about i860, there was no bank in 
Jefferson County. There was no way to transmit funds except sending them 
with a direct messenger or by some neighbor who had business in the locality 
where you desired to send your money. An adroit way was to secure a ten-, 
fifty-, or one-hundred-dollar bill, cut it in two, send the first half in a letter, 
wait for a reply, and then enclose the other half in a letter also. The party 
receiving the halves could paste them together. The pioneer merchants, when 
going to Philadelphia for goods, put their silver Spanish dollars in belts in 
undershirts and on other parts of their persons, wherever they thought it 
could be best concealed. In this way on horseback they made journeys. 
Every horseback rider (tourist) carried a pair of leather saddle-bags. 

In the United States, July 1, 1837, the post-roads were about 118,264 
miles in extent, and the annual transportation of the mails was at the rate of 
27,578,621 miles, — viz. : 

On horseback and in sulkies. 8,291,504; in stages, 17,408,820; in steam- 
boats and railroad cars, 1,878,297. 

14 209 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

The number of post-offices in the United States on July I, 1835, was 
10,770; on July I, 1836, 11,091; and on December 1, 1837, 11,100. 

In the year 1837 the Postmaster-General recommended a revision of the 
present rates of postage, making a reduction of about twenty per cent., to 
take effect on July 1, next. To this end he suggested the following letter 
postage : 

75 miles and under 5 cents. 

150 miles and over 75 miles 10 

300 miles and over 150 miles IS 

600 miles and over 300 miles 20 

Over 600 miles 25 

Postage stamps were invented by James Chalmers, an Englishman, and 
first used May 6, 1840, in London. 

The first issue of the United States stamps took place in 1845, but the 
postmasters of several places had issued stamps for their own convenience 
a few years before this. These " Postmasters','' or provisional stamps, of 
course, were not good for postage after the government issue took place. 

The first stamp sold of this issue was bought by the Hon. Henry Shaw. 
This issue consisted of but two denominations, the five- and ten-cent ones, 
and were imperforated, as were the stamps of the next series, issued in 
1851-56. 

The pioneer post-office was established in this State under an act of 
Assembly, November 27, 1700. 



JftC 




m 



^ 



CHAPTER XI 



SUSQUEHANNA AND WATERFORD TURNPIKE THE OLD TOLL-GATES ALONG THE 

ROUTE A FULL HISTORY OF THE OLD TURNPIKE 



In 1792 the first stone turnpike in the United States was chartered. It 
was constructed in Pennsylvania, in 1794, from Lancaster to Philadelphia. In 
this year, also, began the agitation in Pennsylvania for internal improvement. 
An agitation that resulted in a great era of State road, canal, and turnpike 
construction, encouraged and assisted by the State government. From 1792 
until 1832 the Legislature granted two hundred and twenty charters for 
turnpikes alone. 

These pikes were not all made, but there was completed within that time, 
as a result of these grants, three thousand miles of passable roads. The 
pioneer turnpike through our wilderness was the Susquehanna and Waterford 
turnpike. On February 22, 1812, a law was enacted by the Pennsylvania 
Legislature enabling the governor to incorporate a company to build a turn- 
pike from the Susquehanna River, near the mouth of Anderson Creek, in 
Clearfield County, through Jefferson County and what is now Brookville, 
and through the town of Franklin and Meadville, to Waterford, in Erie 
County. The governor was authorized to subscribe twelve thousand dollars 
in shares toward building the road. Joseph Barnett and Peter Jones, of 
Jefferson County, and two from each of the following counties, Erie, Craw- 
ford, Mercer, Clearfield, Venango, and Philadelphia, and two from the city 
of Philadelphia, were appointed commissioners to receive stock. Each of the 
counties just named was required to take a specified number of shares, and 
the shares were placed at twenty-five dollars each. Jefferson County was 
required to take fifty shares. 

The war of 1812 so depressed business in this part of the State that all 
work was delayed on this thoroughfare for six years. The company com- 
menced work in 1818, and the survey was completed in October of that year. 
In November, 1818, the sections were offered for sale, and in November, 
1820, the road was completed to Belief onte. 

The commissioners employed John Sloan, Esq., to make the survey and 
grade the road. They began the survey in the spring and finished it in the 
fall of 1818, a distance of one hundred and four miles. The State took one- 
third of the stock. James Harriet, of Meadville, Pennsylvania, took the con- 
tract to build the road, and he gave it out to sub-contractors. Some took 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

five miles, some ten, and so on. The bridge over the Clarion River was built 
in 1821, by Moore, from Northumberland County; it was built with a single 
arch. 

In March, 1821, an act was passed by the Legislature appropriating two 
thousand five hundred dollars for improving the road. Appointments were 
made in each county through which the road passed of people whose duty it 
was to receive the money for each county and to pay it out. Charles C. Gaskill 
and Carpenter Winslow represented Jefferson County. 




Andrew Ellicott never surveyed or brushed out this turnpike. He was 
one of the commissioners for the old State Road. 

Our turnpike was one hundred and twenty-six miles long. The individual 
subscriptions to its construction were in total fifty thousand dollars, the State 
aid giving one hundred and forty thousand dollars. This was up to March, 
1822. The finishing of our link in November, 1824, completed and opened 
one continuous turnpike road from Philadelphia to Erie. Our part of this 
thoroughfare was called a " clay turnpike," and in that day was boasted of 
by the earl)- settlers as the most convenient and easy-travelling road in the 

212 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

United States. That, in fact, anywhere along the route over the mountain the 
horses could be treated to the finest water, and that anywhere along the route, 
too, the traveller, as well as the driver, could regale himself " with the choicest 
Monongahela whiskey bitters,'' clear as amber, sweet as musk, and smooth as 
oil. 

" Immediately after the completion of the turnpike mile-stones were set 
up. They were on the right-hand side of the road as one travelled east. The 
stones when first erected were white, neat, square, and well finished. On 
each stone was inscribed, ' To S. oo miles. To F. oo miles.' Of course, 
figures appeared on the stones where ciphers have been placed above. S. stood 
for Susquehanna, which is east, and F. for Franklin, which is west." 

Only the commonest goods were hauled into this country over the old 
State Road, and in the early days of the turnpike, Oliver Gregg, with his six 
horses, and Joseph Morrow, with his outfit of two teams, were regularly 
employed for many years in carrying freight from Philadelphia to this section. 
It took four weeks to reach here from Philadelphia, and the charge for freight 
was about six dollars per hundred pounds. A man by the name of Potter in 
latter years drove an outfit of five roan horses. Each team had a Conestoga 
wagon and carried from three to four tons of goods. 

THE TOLL-GATE 

With the completion of the turnpike came the toll-gate. One was erected 
every five or ten miles. 

Gangs of men were kept busy constantly repairing the pike, and they were 
individually paid at these gates. The road was then kept in good condition. 

" an act to enable the governor of the commonwealth to incorporate 
a company for making an artificial road, by the best and nearest 
route, from waterford, in the county of erie, through meadville 
and franklin to the river susquehanna, at or near the mouth 
of Anderson's creek, in clearfield county 

" Section 13. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That 
the said company, having perfected the said road, or such part thereof, from 
time to time as aforesaid, and the same being examined, approved, and li- 
censed as aforesaid, it shall and may be lawful for them to appoint such 
and so many toll-gatherers as they shall think proper, to collect and receive 
of and from all and every person and persons using the said road the tolls 
and rates hereinafter mentioned ; and to stop any person riding, leading, or 
driving any horse or mule, or driving any cattle, hogs, sheep, sulkey, chair, 
chaise, phaeton, cart, wagon, wain, sleigh, sled, or other carriage of burden 
or pleasure from passing through the said gates or turnpikes until they shall 
have respectfully paid the same, — that is to say, for every space of five miles 
in length of the said road the following sum of money, and so in proportion 

213 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

for any greater or less distance, or for any greater or less number of hogs, 
sheep, or cattle, to wit : For every score of sheep, four cents ; for every score 
of hogs, six cents ; for every score of cattle, twelve cents ; for every horse or 
mule, laden or unladen, with his rider or leader, three cents ; for every sulkey, 
chair, chaise, with one horse and two wheels, six cents ; and with two horses, 
nine cents; for every chair, coach, phaeton, chaise, stage-wagon, coachee, or 
light wagon, with two horses and four wheels, twelve cents ; for either of the 
carriages last mentioned, with four horses, twenty cents ; for every other 
carriage of pleasure, under whatever name it may go. the like sum, according 




Port Barnett 



to the number of wheels and of horses drawing the same ; for every sleigh or 
sled, two cents for each horse drawing the same ; for every cart or wagon, or 
other carriage of burden, the wheels of which do not in breadth exceed four 
inches, four cents for each horse drawing the same ; for every cart or 
wagon, the wheels of which shall exceed in breadth four inches, and shall 
not exceed seven inches, three cents for each horse drawing the same ; 
and when any such carriages as aforesaid shall be drawn by oxen or 
mules, in the whole or in part, two oxen shall be estimated as equal to one 
horse; and every ass or mule as equal to one horse, in charging the afore- 
said tolls." 

214 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

COMPLETION OF THE TURNPIKE 

The first stage line was established over the Waterford and Susquehanna 
turnpike from Bellefonte to Erie by Robert Clark, of Clark's Ferry, Penn- 
sylvania, in November, 1824. It was called a Concord line, and at first was 
a tri-weekly. The first stage-coach passed through where Brookville now is 
about November 6, 1824. In 1824 the route was completed to Philadelphia, 
through Harrisburg, and was a daily line. 

" The arrival of the stages in old times was a much more important event 
than that of the railroad trains to-day. Crowds invariably gathered at the 
public houses where the coaches stopped to obtain the latest news, and the 
passengers were of decided account for the time being. Money was so scarce 
that few persons could afford to patronize the stages, and those who did 




1 ^-Onp 



1824-50 



were looked upon as fortunate beings. A short trip on the stage was as 
formidable an affair as one to Chicago or Washington is now by railroad. 
The stage-drivers were men of considerable consequence, especially in the 
villages through which they passed. They were intrusted with many delicate 
missives and valuable packages, and seldom betrayed the confidence reposed 
in them. They had great skill in handling their horses, and were the admira- 
tion and envy of the boys. 

" The traffic on the turnpike began, of course, at its completion in Novem- 

215 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

ber, 1824. It increased gradually until it reached enormous proportions. A 
quarter of a century after the road had been built it arrived at the zenith of 
its glory." 

Pedlers of all kinds, on foot and in covered wagons, travelled the pike. 
From Crawford County came the cheese and white-fish pedler. Several 
people, including the hotel-men, would each buy a whole cheese. 

The pioneer inns or taverns in Jefferson County along this highway 
were about six in number. Five of the six were built of hewed logs, — viz. : 
one where Reynoldsville is ; the Packer Inn, near Peter Baum's ; one near 
Campbell Run ( Ghost Hollow ) ; the William Vastbinder Inn ; James Winter's 
tavern, at Roseville; and John McAnulty's inn, kept by Alexander Powers, 
where Corsica is now located. The Port Barnett Inn at this time was a 
" frame structure," as its picture represents. 

The old State Road was opened and finished to Holeman's Ferry, on the 
Allegheny River, in 1804. This point is now in Forest Countv. There was 
no provision made to complete the road from there to Waterford bv the Legis- 
lature until 1810. At that time Clarion Countv was not organized, and the 
part of the State Road that now lies in Clarion Countv was then in Venango 
Countv. 




CHAPTER XII 



PIONEER AGRICULTURE HOW THE FARMERS IN THE OLDEN TIME HAD TO 

MAKE SHIFT THE PIONEER HOMES PIONEER FOOD PIONEER EVENING 

FROLICS TREES, SNAKES, AND REPTILES SOLDIERS OF l8l2 PIONEER 

LEGAL RELATIONS OF MAN AND WIFE EARLY AND PIONEER MUSIC THE 

FIRST SCREW FACTORY POPULATION OF THE STATE AND OF THE UNITED 

STATES 

For convenience in description I may here state that the soil of North- 
western Pennsylvania was covered in sections with two different growths of 
timber, — viz. : sections of oak and other hard-wood timber, with underbrush 
and saplings. Some of these sections were called the barrens. The other 
sections were covered with a dense and heavy growth of pine, hemlock, poplar, 
cucumber, bass, ash, sugar, and beech, with saplings, down timber, and under- 
brush in great profusion. The mode of clearing in these different sections 
was not the same. In the first-mentioned or sparsely covered section the pre- 
liminary work was grubbing. The saplings and underbrush had to be grubbed 
up and out with a mattock and piled in brush-piles. One man could usually 
grub an acre in four days, or you could let this at a job for two dollars per acre 
and board. The standing timber then was usually girdled or deadened, and 
allowed to fall down in the crops from year to year, to be chopped and rolled 
in heaps every spring. In the dense or heavy-growth timber the preliminary 
work was underbrushing, cutting the saplings close to the ground, piling the 
brush or not, as the necessity of the case seemed to require. The second step 
was the cutting of all down timber into lengths of ten or fifteen feet. After 
this came the cutting of all standing timber, which, too, had to be brushed 
and cut into twelve- or fifteen-foot lengths. This latter work was always a 
winter's job for the farmer, and the buds on these falling trees made excellent 
browsing feed for his cattle. In the spring-time, after the brush had become 
thoroughly dry, and in a dry time, a good burn of the brush, if possible, was 
obtained. The next part of the process was logging, usually after harvest. 
This required the labor of five men and a team of oxen, — one driver for the 
oxen and two men at each end of the log-heap. Neighbors would " morrow" 
with each other, and on such occasions each neighbor usually brought his 
own handspike. This was a round pole, usually made of beech-, dog-, or 
iron-wood, without any iron on or in it, about six feet long, and sharpened at 
the large end. Logs were rolled on the pile over skids. Sometimes the cattle 

217 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

were made to draw or roll the logs on the heap. These piles were then burned, 
and the soil was ready for the drag or the triangular harrow. I have looked 
like a negro many a time while working at this logging. Then money was 
scarce, labor plenty and cheap, and amusements few, hence grubbing, chop- 
ping, and logging " frolics" were frequent and popular. For each frolic one 
or more two-gallon jugs of whiskey were indispensable. A jolly good time 
was had, as well as a good dinner and supper, and every one in the neighbor- 
hood expected an invitation. 

As there was a fence law then, the ground had to be fenced, according 
to this law, " horse-high, bull-strong, and hog-tight." The effort made by 
the pioneer to obey this law was in four ways, — viz. : First, by slashing trees 
and placing brush upon the trees ; second, by using the logs from the clearing 
for the purpose of a fence ; third, by a post- and rail-fence, built straight, and 
the end of each rail sharpened and fastened in a mortised post ; fourth, by the 
common rail- or worm-fence. These rails were made of ash, hickory, chestnut, 
linn, and pine. The usual price for making rails per hundred was fifty cents 
with board. I have made them by contract at that price myself. 

" I seem to see the low rail-fence, 

That worming onward mile on mile, 
Was redolent with pungent scents 

Of sassafras and camomile. 
Within a fence-rail tall and bare, 
The saucy bluebird nested there ; 
'Twas there the largest berries grew, 
As every barefoot urchin knew ! 
And swiftly, shyly creeping through 

The tangled vine and the bramble dense, 
The mingled sunshine and the dew, 

The Bob- White perched atop the fence ; 
And, flinging toil and care away, 
He piped and lilted all the day." 

In 1799, when Joseph Hutchison lived in what is now Jefferson County, 
wheat sold in this section of the State for two dollars and fifty cents per bushel, 
flour for eighteen dollars per barrel, corn two dollars, oats one dollar and fifty 
cents, and potatoes one dollar and fifty cents per bushel. 

Wheat was brought into Massachusetts by the first settlers. Rye was also 
brought by them and cultivated. Our Indian corn was first successfully raised 
in 1608, on the James River, Virginia. Oats were brought by the first settlers 
and sown in 1602. Buckwheat, a native of Asia, was taken to Europe in the 
twelfth century, and was grown in Pennsylvania in 1702. Barley was intro- 
duced by permanent settlers and is a native of Egypt. 

Columbus brought domestic animals in his second voyage, in 1493. He 
brought a bull, several cows, and an assortment of horses. In 1609, sheep, 
goats, swine, and fowls were brought. 

218 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

The early axes were called pole-axes. They were rude, clumsy, and 
heavy, with a single bit. About 1815 an improved Yankee single-bit axe was 
introduced, but it, too, was heavy and clumsy. In about 1825 the present 
double-bitted axe came to be occasionally used. 

I have never seen the wooden plough, but I have seen them with the iron 
shoe point and coulter. These were still in use in the late twenties. I have 
driven an ox-team to the drag or triangular harrow. This was the principal 
implement used in seeding ground, both before and after the introduction of 
the shovel-plough in 1843. 

" The greatest improvement ever made on ploughs, in this or any other 
country, was made by Charles Newbold, of Burlington, New Jersey, and pat- 
ented in 1797. The mould-board, share, landslide, and point were all cast 
together in one solid piece. The plough was all cast iron except the beam and 
handles. The importance of this invention was so great that it attracted the 




Clearing land 



attention of plough-makers and scientific men all over the country. Thomas 
Jefferson (afterwards President of the United States) wrote a treatise on 
ploughs, with a particular reference to the Newbold plough. He described 
the requisite form of the mould-board, according to scientific principles, and 
calculated the proper form and curvature of the mould-board to lessen the 
friction and lighten the draught. 

" The Newbold plough would have been nearly perfect had it not been 
for one serious defect. When the point, for instance, was worn out, which 
would soon be accomplished, the plough was ruined and had to be thrown 
aside. This defect, however, was happily remedied by Jethro Wood, who 
was the first to cast the plough in sections, so that the parts most exposed to 
wear could be replaced from the same pattern, by which means the cast-iron 
plough became a complete success. His plough was patented in 18 19, twenty- 

219 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

two years after Newbold's patent. It is a wonder that so long a time should 
have elapsed before any one thought of this improvement. These two men 
did more for the farmers in relation to ploughs than any others before their 
time or since." 

In harvest-time the grain was first reaped with a sickle ; then came the 
cradle. In my boyhood all the lying grain thrown down by storms was still 
reaped with a sickle. I carry the evidence of this on my fingers. A day's 
work was about two acres. McCormick perfected his reaper in 1848. Grain 
was usually thrashed by a flail, though some tramped it out with horses. 
By the flail ten bushels of wheat or twenty bushels of oats was a good day's 
work. Men who travelled around thrashing on shares with the flail charged 
every tenth bushel, including board. The tramping was done by horses and 
by farmers who had good or extra barn floors. The sheaves were laid in a 
circle, a man stood in the middle of the circle to turn up and over the straw 
as needed, and then, with a boy to ride one horse and lead another, the 
"tramping" in this circuit commenced. This was hard work for the boy; it 
made him tired and sore where he sat down. To prevent dizziness, the travel 
on the circuit was frequently reversed. One man, a boy, and two horses could 
tramp out in this way in a day about fifteen bushels of wheat or thirty-five 
bushels of oats. Grain was cleaned by means of two hand-riddles, one coarse 
and one fine. These riddles had no iron or steel about them, the bottom of 
each being made of wooden splints woven in. The riddles were two and one- 
half feet in diameter and the rings about four inches wide. Three men were 
required to clean the grain, — one to shake the riddle, while two others, one at 
each end of a tow sheet, doubled, swayed the sheet to and fro in front of the 
man shaking the riddle. These three men in this way could clean about ten or 
fifteen bushels of wheat in a day. This process was practised in the twenties. 
Windmills came into use about 1825. For many years there were extremely 
few wagons and but poor roads on which to use them. The early vehicles 
were the prongs of a tree, a sled made of saplings, called a " pung," and 
ox-carts. In fact, about all the work was done with oxen, and in driving his 
cattle the old settler would halloo with all his might and swear profusely. 
This profanity and hallooing was thought to be necessary. The pioneer sled 
was made with heavy single runners, the " bob"-sled being a later innovation. 
It might be proper to say here that the first agricultural society in America 
was organized in Pennsylvania in 1784. 

" HAYING IN THE OLDEN TIME 

" Haying in the old days was a much more formidable yearly under- 
taking than it is to modern farmers. Before the era of labor-saving haying 
implements farmers began the work of haying early in the day and season, and 
toiled hard until both were far spent. Human muscle was strained to exert 
a force equal to the then unused horse-power. On large farms many ' hands' 

220 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

were required. Haying was an event of importance in the farmer's year. It 
made great demands upon his time, strength, and pocket-book. His best 
helpers were engaged long in advance, sometimes a whole season. Ability to 
handle a scythe well entitled a man to respect while haying lasted. Experts 
took as much pains with a scythe as with a razor. Boys of to-day have never 
seen such a sight as a dozen stalwart men mowing a dozen-acre field. 

" On the first day of haying, almost before the sun was up, the men 
would be at the field ready to begin. The question to be settled at the very 
outset was as to which man should cut the ' double.' This was the first swath 
to be cut down and back through the centre of the field. 

" The boys brought up the rear in the line of mowers. Their scythes were 
hung well ' in,' to cut a narrow swath. They were told to stand up straight 
when mowing, point in, keep the heel of the scythe down, and point out 
evenly, so as not to leave ' hog-troughs' on the meadow when the hay was 
raked up. Impatient of these admonitions, they thought they could mow 
pretty well, and looked ambitiously forward to a time when they might cut 
the ' double.' " 

HOW THE PIONEER BOUGHT HIS LAND 

In 1825 Charles C. Gaskill, who lived in Punxsutawney and was agent 
for the Holland Land Company, advertised one hundred and fifty thousand 
acres of land for sale, in lots to suit purchasers, and on the following terms, — 
viz. : All purchasing land for two dollars per acre must pay ten dollars down, 
the balance in eight annual payments, with interest on and after the third 
vear. Those buying at one dollar and seventy-five cents per acre, one-fourth 
in hand, the balance in eight annual payments, with interest on and after 
third payment. Those paying one dollar and fifty cents per acre, one-half 
down, and the remainder in payments as above stated. All land was bought 
and sold on a simple article of agreement. 

DRESS OF MEN 

Moccasin shoes, buckskin breeches, blue broadcloth coats and brass but- 
tons, fawn-skin vests, roundabouts, and woollen warmuses, leather or woollen 
gallowses, coon- or seal-skin caps in winter with chip or oat-straw hats for 
summer. Every neighborhood had then usually one itinerant shoemaker and 
tailor, who periodically visited cabins and made up shoes or clothes as required. 
All material had to be furnished, and these itinerant mechanics worked for fifty 
cents a day and board. Corduroy pants and corduroy overalls were common. 

The old pioneer in winter often wore a coon-skin cap, coon-skin gloves, 
buckskin breeches, leggins, and a wolf-skin hunting-shirt. 

The warmuses, breeches, and hunting-shirts of the men, the linsey petti- 
coats, dresses, and bed-gowns of the women, were all hung in some corner of 
the cabin on wooden pegs. To some extent this was a display of pioneer 
wealth. 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

DRESS OF WOMEN 

Home-made woollen cloth, tow, linen, linsey-woolsey, etc. I have seen 
" barefoot girls with cheek of tan" walk three or four miles to church, when, 
on nearing the church, they would step into the woods to put on a pair of 
shoes they carried with them. I could name some of these who are living 
to-day. A woman who could buy eight or ten yards of calico for a dress at a 
dollar a yard put on queenly airs. Every married woman of any refinement 
then wore day-caps and night-caps. The bonnets were beaver, gimp, leg- 
horn, and sun-bonnets. For shoes, women usually went barefoot in the 
summer, and in the winter covered their feet with moccasins, calf-skin shoes, 
buffalo overshoes, and shoe-packs. 




Large spinning-wheel 

Linen and tow cloth were made from flax. The seed was sown in the 
early spring and ripened about August. It was harvested by " pulling." This 
was generally done by a " pulling frolic" of young people pulling it out by the 
root. It was then tied in little sheaves and permitted to dry, hauled in, and 
thrashed for the seed. Then the straw was watered and rotted by laying it 
on the ground out of doors. Then the straw was again dried and " broken in 
the flax-break," after which it was again tied up in little bundles and then 
scutched with a Wooden knife. This scutching was a frolic job too, and a 
dirty one. Then it was hackled. This hackling process separated the linen 
part from the tow. The rest of the process consisted of spinning, weaving, 
and dveing. Linen cloth sold for about twenty-four cents a yard, tow cloth 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

for about twenty cents a yard. Weaving originated with the Chinese. It 
took a thousand years for the art to reach Europe. 

In the State Constitutional Convention of 1837 to amend the constitu- 
tion I find the occupation of the members elected to that body to be as follows, 
viz.: Farmers, 51; iron-masters, 3 ; manufacturer, 1 ; mechanics, 2 ; house- 
carpenters^; brick-maker, 1; paper-maker, 1; printers, 2 ; potter, 1; judge, 
1; attorneys, 41 ; doctors, 12; editor, 1; merchants, 9 ; surveyors, 4; clerks, 
4; total membership, 136. From this it will be seen that farmers received 
proper recognition in the earlier elections. 




Flax-brake 



THE PIONEER HOMES OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" This is the land our fathers loved, 

The homestead which they toiled to win. 
This is the ground whereon they moved, 
And here are the graves they slumber in." 

The home of the pioneer was a log cabin, one story high, chinked and 
daubed, having a fireplace in one end, with a chimney built of sticks and mud, 
and in one corner always stood a big wooden poker to turn back-logs or punch 
the fire. These cabins were usually small, but some were perhaps twenty by 
thirty feet, with a hole cut in two logs for a single window, — oiled paper 
being used for glass. For Brussels carpet they had puncheon floors, and a 
clapboard roof held down by weight poles to protect them from the storm. 
Wooden pegs were driven in the logs for the wardrobe, the rifle, and the 
powder-horn. Wooden benches and stools were a luxury upon which to rest 
or sit while feasting on mush and milk, buckwheat cakes, hog and hominy. 

Hospitality in this log cabin was simple, hearty, and unbounded. Whis- 

223 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

key was pure, cheap, and plenty, and was lavished bountifully on each and all 
social occasions. Every settler had his jug or barrel. It was the drink of 
drinks at all merry-makings, grubbings, loggings, choppings, house-warm- 
ings, and weddings. A drink of whiskey was always proffered to the visitor 
or traveller who chanced to call or spend a night in these log cabins. 

Puncheon boards or planks were made from a log of straight grain and 
clear of knots, and of the proper length, which was split into parts and the 
face of each part smoothed with a broadaxe. The split parts had to be all 
started at the same time, with wedges at the end of the log, each wedge being 
struck alternately with a maul until all the parts were separated. 

The furniture for the table of the pioneer log cabins consisted of pewter 
dishes, plates, and spoons, or wooden bowls, plates, and noggins. If noggins 
were scarce, gourds and hard-shelled squashes answered for drinking-cups. 




Spinning-wheel, reel, and bed-warmer 

The iron pots, knives and forks, along with the salt and iron, were brought 
to the wilderness on pack-horses over Meade's trail or over the Milesburg and 
Le Bceuf State road. 

Some of these log cabins near Brookville were still occupied in the forties. 
I have been in many of them in my childhood. In proof of the smallness of 
the early cabin I reproduce the testimony on oath of Thomas Lucas, Esq., in 
the following celebrated ejectment case, — viz. : 



" EJECTMENT 

" In the Court of Common Pleas of Jefferson County. Ejectment for 
sixteen hundred acres of land in Pine Creek township. Elijah Heath vs. 
Joshua Knap, ct al. 

224 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" 16th September, 1841, a jury was called per minets. The plaintiff after 
having opened his case in support of the issue, gave in evidence as follows : 

" Thomas Lucas. — Masons have in the surveys about twelve acres of land, 
a cabin house, and stable thereon. They live near the line of the town tract, 
the town tract takes in the apple-trees ; think they claim on some improve- 
ment. Some of this improvement I think is thirty-five years old, — this was 
the Mason claim. The first improvement was made in 1802 ; I call it the 
Pickering survey, only an interference. Jacob Mason has been living off 
and on since 1802, — two small cabin houses on the interference, one fifteen or 
sixteen feet square, the other very small, twelve or fifteen feet, — a log stable." 

At this time and before it many of these cabins were lighted by means of 
a half window, — viz. : one window-sash, containing from four to six panes 
of seven by nine glass. Up to and even at this date (1841) the usual light 




Ox-voke and tin lantern 



at night in these cabins was the old iron lamp, something like the miner wears 
in his hat, or else a dish containing refuse grease, with a rag in it. Each 
smoked and gave a dismal light, yet women cooked, spun, and sewed, and 
men read the few books they had as best they could. The aroma from this 
refuse grease was simply horrible. The cabin was daily swept with a split 
broom made of hickory. The hinges and latches of these cabins were made 
of wood. The latch on the door was raised from without by means of a 
buckskin string. At night, as a means of safety, the string was " pulled in," 
and this locked the door. As a further mark of refinement each cabin was 
generally guarded by from two to six worthless dogs. Cabins, as a rule, 
were built one story and a half high, and the space between the loose floor 
and roof of the half-story was used as a sleeping room. I have many a time 
climbed up an outside ladder, fastened to and near the chimney, to a half- 
story in a cabin, and slept on a bed of straw on the floor. 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Of pests in and around the old cabin, the house-fly, the bed-bug, and 
the louse were the most common on the inside ; the gnat, the wood-tick, and 
the horse-fly on the outside. The horse-fly is the most cruel and bloodthirsty 
of the entire family. He is armed with a most formidable weapon, which 
consists of four lancets, so sharp and strong that they will penetrate leather. 
He makes his appearance in June. The female is armed with six lancets, 
with which she bleeds both cattle and horses, and even human beings. It was 
a constant fight for life with man, cattle, and horses against the gnat, the tick, 
and the horse-fly, and if it had not been for the protection of what were called 
" gnat-fires," life could not have been sustained, or at least it would have 
been unendurable. The only thing to dispel these outside pests was to clear 
land and let in the sunshine. As an all-around pest in the cabin and out, day 
and night, there was the flea. 

PIONEER FOOD WHAT THE PIONEER COULD HAVE, OR DID HAVE, TO EAT 

Buckwheat cakes, mush, and souens, corn-mush and milk, rye-mush and 
bread, hominy, potatoes, turnips, wild onions or wramps, wild meats, wild 
birds, fish, and wild fruits. 

In and before 1830 flour was three dollars per barrel ; beef, three cents 
a pound ; venison ham, one and one-half cents a pound ; chickens, six cents a 
piece ; butter, six and eight cents a pound ; and eggs, six cents a dozen. 

In the early cooking everything was boiled and baked ; this was healthy. 
There was no " rare fad," with its injurious results. The common dishes 
served were wheat- and rye-bread, wheat- and rye-mush, Indian corn-pone, 
cakes, and mush, sweet and buttermilk boiled and thickened, doughnuts, and 
baked pot-pies. Soda was made by burning corncobs. We are indebted, to 
the heathen Chinese for the art of bread-making from wheat, 1998 B.C. 

Buckwheat souens was a great pioneer dish. It was made in this wise : 
Mix your buckwheat flour and water in the morning; add to this enough 
yeast to make the batter light; then let it stand until evening, or until the 
batter is real sour. Now stir this batter into boiling water and boil until it 
is thoroughly cooked, like corn-mush. Eat hot or cold with milk or cream. 
Buckwheat is a native of Asia. 

MEATS 

Hogs, bears, elks, deer, rabbits, squirrels, and woodchucks. 

The saddles or hams of the deer were salted by the pioneer, then smoked 
and dried. This was a great luxury, and could be kept all the year through. 
' The late Dr. Clarke wrote, " Wild game, such as elks, deer, bears, tur- 
keys, and partridges, were numerous, and for many years constituted an 
important part of the animal food of the early settlers in this wilderness. 
Wolves and panthers came in for a share of this game, until they, too, became 
game for the hunters by the public and legal offer of bounties to be paid for 
their scalps, or rather for their ears, for a perfect pair of ears was required 

226 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

to secure the bounty. All these have become nearly extinct. The sturdy elk 
no longer roves over the hills or sips ' salty sweetness' from the licks. The 
peculiar voice of the stately strutting wild turkey is heard no more. The 
howl of the wolf and the panther's cry no longer alarm the traveller as he 
winds his way over the hills or through the valleys, and the flocks are now 
permitted to rest in peace. Even the wild deer is now seldom seen, and a nice 
venison steak rarely gives its delicious aroma among the shining plate of 
modern well-set tables." 

FISH 

Pike, bass, catfish, suckers, sunfish, horn-chubs, mountain trout, and eels. 

The old settler shot, seined, hooked with a line, and gigged his fish. Gig- 
ging was done at night by means of a light made from burning fagots of 
pitch-pine. It usually required three to do this gigging, whether " wading" 
or in a canoe, — one to carry the light ahead, one to gig, and one to care for 
the fish. 

BIRDS 

Pheasants were plentiful, and enlivened the forests with their drum- 
ming. The waters and woods were full of wild ducks, geese, pigeons, and 
turkeys. 

The most remarkable bird in America was the wild turkey. It is the 
original turkey, and is the stock from which the tame turkeys sprung. In 
the wild state it was to be found in the wooded lands east of the Rocky Moun- 
tains. In pioneer times it was called gobbler or Bubly Jock by the whites, and 
Oo-coo-coo by the Indians. Our pioneer hunters could mimic or imitate the 
gobbling of a turkey, and this deceptive ruse was greatly practised to excite 
the curiosity and bring the bird within shooting distance. The last wild 
turkey in Jefferson County was killed in the seventies near the town of False 
Creek. 

To obtain a turkey roast when needed, the pioneer sometimes built in the 
woods a pen of round logs and covered it with brush. Whole flocks of turkeys 
were sometimes caught in these pens, built in this wise : 

" First, a narrow ditch, about six feet long and two feet deep, was dug. 
Over this trench the pen was built, leaving a few feet of the channel outside 
of the enclosure. The end of the part of the trench enclosed was usually 
about the middle of the pen. Over the ditch, near the wall of the pen, boards 
were laid. The pen was made tight enough to hold a turkey and covered 
with poles. Then corn was scattered about on the inside, and the ditch outside 
baited with the same grain. Sometimes straw was also scattered about in 
the pen. Then the trap was ready for its victims. The turkeys came to the 
pen, began to pick up the corn, and followed the trench within. When they 
had eaten enough, the birds tried to get out by walking around the pen, look- 
ing up all the time. They would cross the ditch on the boards, and never think 
of going to the opening in the ground at the centre of the pen. When the 

227 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

hunter found his game he had only to crawl into the pen through the trench 
and kill the birds."' 

In the fall turkeys became very fat, and gobblers were sometimes captured 
for Christmas in this way weighing over twenty pounds. 

FRUITS 

Apples, crab-apples, wild, red, and yellow plums, blackberries, huckle- 
berries, elderberries, wild strawberries, choke-cherries, and wild gooseberries; 
and there were 

SWEETS 

Domestic and wild honey, maple-sugar, maple-molasses, and corn-cob 
molasses. Bee-trees were numerous, and would frequently yield from eight 
to twelve gallons of excellent honey. These trees had to be cut in the night 
by the light of pitch-pine fagots. 

DRINK 

Metheglin, a drink made from honey ; whiskey, small beer, rye coffee, 
buttermilk, and fern, sassafras, sage, and mint teas. 

Distilled liquor was discovered in India and introduced into Europe in 
1 150. The name whiskey was given to it by the Scotch, who made it from 
barley. 

To fully illustrate the pioneer days I quote from the " History of Craw- 
ford County, Pennsylvania,"' — viz. : 

" The habits of the pioneers were of a simplicity and purity in conform- 
ance to their surroundings and belongings. The men were engaged in the 
herculean labor, day after day, of enlarging the little patch of sunshine about 
their homes, cutting away the forest, burning off the brush and debris, pre- 
paring the soil, planting, tending, harvesting, caring for the few animals 
which they brought with them or soon procured, and in hunting. While they 
were engaged in the heavy labor of the field and forest, or following the deer, 
or seeking other game, their helpmeets were busied with their household 
duties, providing for the day and for the winter coming on, cooking, making 
clothes, spinning, and weaving. They were fitted by nature and experience to 
be the consorts of the brave men who first came into the western wilderness. 
They were heroic in their endurance of hardship and privation and loneliness. 

" Their industry was well directed and unceasing. Woman's work then, 
like man's, was performed under disadvantages, which have been removed in 
later years. She had not only the common household duties to perform, but 
many others. She not only made the clothing, but the fabric for it. That old, 
old occupation of spinning and weaving, with which woman's name has 
been associated in all history, and of which the modern world knows nothing, 
except through the stories of those who are great-grandmothers now, — that 

228 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

old occupation of spinning and weaving which seems surrounded with a 
glamour of romance as we look back to it through tradition and poetry, and 
which always conjures up thoughts of the graces and virtues of the dames and 
damsels of a generation that is gone, — that old, old occupation of spinning 
and weaving was the chief industry of the pioneer woman. Every cabin 
sounded with the softly whirring wheel and the rhythmic thud of the loom. 
The woman of pioneer times was like the woman described by Solomon : 
' She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands ; she 
layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.' 

" Almost every article of clothing, all of the cloth in use in the old log 
cabins, was the product of the patient woman-weaver's toil. She spun the flax 
and wove the cloth for shirts, pantaloons, frocks, sheets, and blankets. The 
linen and the wool, the ' linsey-woolsey' woven by the housewife, formed all 
of the material for the clothing of both men and women, except such articles 
as were made of skins. The men commonly wore the hunting-shirt, a kind of 
loose frock reaching half-way down the figure, open before, and so wide as to 
lap over a foot or more upon the chest. This generally had a cape, which was 
often fringed with a ravelled piece of cloth of a different color from that 
which composed the garment. The bosom of the hunting-shirt answered as 
a pouch, in which could be carried the various articles that the hunter or 
woodsman would need. It was always worn belted, and made out of coarse 
linen, or linsey, or of dressed deer-skin, according to the fancy of the wearer. 
Breeches were made of heavy cloth or of deer-skin, and were often worn with 
leggings of the same material or of some kind of leather, while the feet were 
most usually encased in moccasins, which were easily and quickly made, 
though they needed frequent mending. The deer-skin breeches or drawers 
were very comfortable when dry, but when they became wet were very cold 
to the limbs, and the next time they were put on were almost as stiff as if 
made of wood. Hats or caps were made of the various native furs. The 
women were clothed in linsey petticoats, coarse shoes and stockings, and 
wore buckskin gloves or mittens when any protection was required for the 
hands. All of the wearing apparel, like that of the men, was made with a 
view to being serviceable and comfortable, and all was of home manufacture. 
Other articles and finer ones were sometimes worn, but they had been brought 
from former homes, and were usually relics handed down from parents to 
children. Jewelry was not common, but occasionally some ornament was dis- 
played. In the cabins of the more cultivated pioneers were usually a few 
books, and the long winter evenings were spent in poring over these well- 
thumbed volumes by the light of the great log-fire, in knitting, mending, curing 
furs, or some similar occupation. 

"As the settlement increased, the sense of loneliness and isolation was 
dispelled, the asperities of life were softened and its amenities multiplied; 
social gatherings became more numerous and more enjoyable. The log-roll- 

229 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

ings, harvestings, and husking-frolics for the men, and apple-butter-making 
and the quilting-parties for the women, furnished frequent occasions for social 
intercourse. The early settlers took much pleasure and pride in rifle-shooting, 
and as they were accustomed to the use of the gun as a means often of obtain- 
ing a subsistence, and relied upon it as a weapon of defence, they exhibited 
considerable skill. 

" Foot-racing", wrestling, and jumping matches were common. The 
jumping matches consisted of the ' single jump,' backward jump, high jump, 
three jumps, and the running hop, step, and jump. 

"A wedding was the event of most importance in the sparsely settled new 
country. The young people had every inducement to marry, and generally 
did so as soon as able to provide for themselves. When a marriage was to 
be celebrated, all the neighborhood turned out. It was customary to have the 
ceremony performed before dinner, and in order to be in time, the groom and 
his attendants usually started from his father's house in the morning for 
that of the bride. All went on horseback, riding in single file along the narrow 
trail. Arriving at the cabin of the bride's parents, the ceremony would be 
performed, and after that dinner served. This would be a substantial back- 
woods feast, of beef, pork, fowls, and bear- or deer-meat, with such vegetables 
as could be procured. The greatest hilarity prevailed during the meal. After 
it was over, the dancing began, and was usually kept up till the next morn- 
ing, though the newly made husband and wife were, as a general thing, put to 
bed in the most approved fashion and with considerable formality in the mid- 
dle of the evening's hilarity. The tall young men, when they went on the 
floor to dance, had to take their places with care between the logs that sup- 
ported the loft-floor, or they were in danger of bumping their heads. The 
figures of the dances were three- and four-hand reels, or square sets and jigs. 
The commencement was always a square four, which was followed by ' jigging 
it off,' or what is sometimes called a ' cut-out jig.' The ' settlement' of a 
young couple was thought to be thoroughly and generously made when the 
neighbors assembled and raised a cabin for them." 

PIONEER PRICES FOR SKILLED AND UNSKILLED LABOR 
For Carpenters. For Day Laborers. 



1800 70 cents per day 

[810 $1.09 per day 

1820 , 1. 13 per day 

1830-1840 1.40 per day 

1850-1860 1.50 per day 



1800 62 cents per day 

1S10 82 cents per day 

1820 go cents per day 

1840-1860 $1.00 (about) per day 



Previous to 1840, a day's work was not limited by hours. It was by law 
and custom from " sunrise to sunset," or whatever the employer exacted. In 
1840, however, President Van Buren signed the pioneer executive order fixing 

230 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

a day's work in the Washington Navy-Yard at ten hours per day. It took a 
great and protracted struggle for years and years to secure the general adop- 
tion of the ten-hour system. 

PIONEER EVENING FROLICS, SOCIAL PARTIES, PLAYS, AND AMUSEMENTS HOW 

THE PIONEER AND EARLY SETTLERS MADE THEIR LOG CABINS MERRY WITH 
SIMPLE, PRIMITIVE ENJOYMENTS 

In the pioneer days newspapers were few, dear, printed on coarse paper, 
and small. Books were scarce, only occasional preaching, no public lectures, 
and but few public meetings, excepting the annual Fourth of July celebration, 
when all the patriots assembled to hear the Declaration of Independence read. 
The pioneer and his family had to have fun. The common saying of that 
day was that " all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." As a rule, out- 
side of the villages, everybody lived in log cabins, and were bound together 
by mutual dependence and acts of neighborly kindness. At every cabin the 
latch-string was always out. The young ladies of the " upper ten" learned 
music, but it was the humming of to " knit and spin ;" their piano was a 
loom, their sunshade a broom, and their novel a Bible. A young gentleman 
or lady was then as proud of his or her new suit, woven by a sister or a 
mother on her own loom, as proud could be, and these new suits or " best 
clothes" were always worn to evening frolics. Social parties among the 
young were called " kissing parties," because in all the plays, either as a 
penalty or as part of the play, all the girls who joined in the amusement had 
to be kissed by some one of the boys. The girls, of course, objected to the 
kissing; but then they were gentle, pretty, and witty, and the sweetest and 
best girls the world ever knew. This was true, for I attended these parties 
and kissed some girls myself. To the boys and girls of that period — 

" The earth was like a garden then, 

And life seemed like a show. 
For the air was rife with fragrance, 

The sky was all rainbow, 
And the heart was warm and joyous; 

Each lad had native grace, 
Sly Cupid planted blushes then 

On every virgin's face." 

The plays were nearly all musical and vocal, and the boys lived and 
played them in the " pleasures of hope," while usually there sat in the 
corner of the cabin fireplace a grandad or a grandma smoking a stone or 
clay pipe, lighted with a live coal from the wood-fire, living and smoking in 
the " pleasures of memory." 

The plays were conducted somewhat in this way : 

A popular play was for all the persons present to join hands and form 

231 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

a ring, with a dude of that time, in shirt of check and bear-greased hair, in 
the centre. Then they circled round and round the centre person, singing,- 

" King William was King James's son, 
And of that royal race he sprung ; 
He wore a star upon his breast, 
To show that he was royal best. 
Go choose your east, go choose your west, 
Go choose the one that you like best ; 
If he's not here to take your part, 
Go choose another with all your heart." 

The boy in the centre then chose a lady from the circle, and she stepped 
into the ring with him. Then the circling was resumed, and all sang to the 
parties inside, — 

" Down on this carpet you must kneel, 

Just as the grass grows in the field ; 

Salute your bride with kisses sweet, 

And then rise up upon your feet." 

The play went on in this manner until all the girls present were kissed. 
Another popular play was to form a ring. A young lady would step 
into the circle, and all parties would join hands and sing, — 

" There's a lily in the garden 
For you, young man ; 
There's a lily in the garden, 
Go pluck it if you can," etc. 

The lady then selects a boy from the circle, who walks into the ring with her. 
He then kisses her and she goes out, when the rest all sing, — 

" There he stands, that great big booby, 
Who he is I do not know ; 
Who will take him for his beauty? 
Let her answer, yes or no." 

This plav goes on in this way until all the girls have been kissed. 
Another favorite play was : 

" Oats, peas, beans, and barley grows; 
None so well as the farmer knows 
.- How oats, peas, beans, and barley grows ; 
Thus the farmer sows his seed, 
Thus he stands to take his ease; 
He stamps his foot and claps his hands, 
And turns around to view his lands," etc. 
232 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Another great favorite was : 

" Oh, sister Phcebe, how merry were we 
The night we sat under the juniper-tree, 

The juniper-tree, I, oh. 
Take this hat on your head, keep your head warm, 
And take a sweet kiss, it will do you no harm, 
But a great deal of good, I know," etc. 



Another was : 



' If I had as many lives 
As Solomon had wives, 

I'd be as old as Adam ; 
So rise to your feet 
And kiss the first you meet, 

Your humble servant, madam." 



Another was : 



"It's raining, it's hailing, it's cold, stormy weather; 
In comes the farmer drinking of his cider. 
He's going a-reaping, he wants a binder, 
I've lost my true love, where shall I find her." 

A live play was called " hurly-burly." " Two went round and gave each 
one, secretly, something to do. The girl was to pull a young man's hair; 
another to tweak an ear or nose, or trip some one, etc. When all had been 
told what to do, the master of ceremonies cried out, ' Hurly-burly.' Every 
one sprang up and hastened to do as instructed. This created a mixed scene 
of a ludicrous character, and was most properly named 'hurly-burly.' " 

TREES, SNAKES, AND REPTILES 

Our forests were originally covered by a heavy growth of timber-trees 
of various kinds. Pine and hemlock predominated. Chestnut and oak grew 
in some localities. Birch, sugar-maple, ash, and hickory occupied a wide 
range. Birch- and cherry-trees were numerous, and linnwood-, cucumber-, 
and poplar-trees grew on many of the hill-sides, and butternut, sycamore, 
black ash, and elm on the low grounds. 

In all, about one hundred varieties of trees grew here. These forests 
have become the prey of the woodman's axe. There has been no voice 
raised effectively to restrain the destruction, wanton as it has been, of the 
best specimens of the pine which the eye of man ever saw. The growth 
of hundreds of years felled to the ground, scarified, hauled to the streams, 
tumbled in, and floated away to the south and east and west for the paltry 
pittance of ten cents a foot ! Oh, that there could have been some power to 
restrain the grasping, wasteful, avaricious cupidity of man, of some voice of 
thunder crying, " Woodman, woodman, spare that tree ! That old familiar 

233 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

forest tree, whoso glory and renown has spread over land and sea, and 
vvouldst thou hack ii down?" 

But the}' are gone, all gone from the mountain's brow. Hie hands, also, 
that commenced the destruction are now mouldering into dust, thus exem- 
plifying the law of nature, thai growth is rapidly followed by decay, huh 
eating a common destiny and bringing a uniform result Aiul such are we; 
u is our lol thus to die and be forgotten. 

Reptiles and snakes were very numerous, The early pioneer had to 
contend against the non-poisonous and poisonous snakes. The non-poisonous 
wove the spotted adder, Maeksnake. the green , the garter-, the water-, and 




Sanded rauU-sn.il.. ( 

the house-snake. The hlaeksnake sometimes attained a length of six and 
eight feet. But dens of vicious rattlesnakes existed in every locality. In 
the vicinity of Brookville there was one at Puckerty. several on the north 
fork, one at Iowa Mills, and legions of rattlers on Mill Creek. The dens 
had to be visited by bold, hardy men annually every spring to kill and destroy 
these reptiles as they emerged in the sun from their dens. Hundreds had to 
be destroyed at each den every spring. This was necessary as a means of 
safety for both man and beast. Of copperheads, there were but a few dens 
in Jefferson County, and these in the extreme south and southwest, — viz.: 
in Perry Township, in Beaver Township, on Beaver Run; and two or three 

534 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

dens in I'orter Township, on tin 1 head-waters of Pine Run, — viz.: Nye's 
Branch and Lost Hill. Occasionally one was found in Brookville. 

The copperhead is hazel-brown on the back and flesh-colored on the 
belly. On each side there arc from fifteen to twenty-six chestnut blotches or 
hands, that somewhat resemble an inverted Y. His head is brighter and 
almost copper-colored on top, and everywhere over his back are found very 
line dark points. The sides of his head arc cream-colored. The dividing line 
between the flesh of the side and the copper of the top passes through the 
upper edge of the head, in front of the eye, and involves three-fourths of 
the orbit. The line is very distinct, lie cannot climb, and lives on lizards. 




Copperhead \Ancistrodon ( 'ontortrlx) 

mice, frogs, and small birds, summers mostly on low, moist ground, but 
winters on ridges. 

He is commonly found wherever the rattler is, but he does not live quite 
so far north in our wilderness. He has a variety of names, — upland moccasin, 
chunkhead, deaf-adder, and pilot-snake among the rest. It is agreed that he is 
a much more vicious brute than the rattlesnake. He is more easily irritated and 
is quicker in his movements. It is said that he will even follow up a victim 
for a second blow. On the other hand, his bite is very much less dangerous 
for a variety of reasons. In the first place, he is no more than three feet 
long, and his fangs are considerably shorter than those of a rattler of the 

235 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

same size, while his strength is less, and the blow, therefore, less effective. 
So he cannot inflict as deep a wound nor inject so much venom. The chances 
of his getting the venom directly into a large vein are proportionately less. 

Rattlesnakes, copperheads, and other large snakes do most of their 
travelling in the night. " Snakes, it appears, are extremely fastidious, every 
species being limited to one or two articles of diet, and preferring to starve 
rather than eat anything else apparently quite as toothsome and suitable. Indi- 
vidual snakes, too, show strange prejudices in the matter of diet, so that it 
is necessary in every case to find out what the snake's peculiarities are before 
feeding him." 

Rattlesnakes eat rabbits, birds, mice, rats, etc., and live on barren, rocky, 
or on huckleberry land. They like to bathe, drink, and live in the sunshine. 
This, too, makes them avoid ridgy, heavily timbered land. They can live 
a year without food. 

The bigger the reptile, of course, the more poison it has. Further- 
more, it is to be remembered that of all American serpents the rattlesnake 
is the most dangerous, the copperhead less so, and the water-moccasin least. 
It is a fact that the poisonous snakes are proof against their own venom. 
That this is true has been demonstrated repeatedly by inoculating such 
serpents with the poisonous secretion from their salivary glands. It is 
believed that there exists in the blood of the venomous snake some agent 
similar to the poison itself, and that the presence of this toxic principle is 
accountable for the immunity exhibited. 

One safety from the snakes to the pioneer and his family was the great 
number of razor-back hogs. These animals were great snake-hunters, being- 
very fond of them. 

RATTLESNAKES FIRST KILL THEIR PREY, THEN SWALLOW IT WHOLE 

The rattlesnake and copperhead are not found anywhere but in America. 
The rattler belongs to the viper family. There are twelve species and thirteen 
varieties. They vary in size and color, one variety being red, white, and green 
spotted and black. A rattle is formed at each renewal of the skin, and as the 
skin may be renewed more than once a year, rattles do not indicate the exact 
age. They live to a ripe old age. and have sometimes as many as thirty 
rattles. In the natural state the rattler sheds his skin but once a year, but in 
confinement he can be forced to shed the skin two or three times annually by 
giving him warm baths and keeping him in a warm place. Rattlers feed two 
or three times a year, but drink water freely and often, and like a horse. 
Rattlers are indifferent climbers of trees, are fond of music, and do not chase 
a retreating animal that has escaped their " strike." 

The rattlesnake of Northwestern Pennsylvania is the Crotahts horridns, 
or North American species, and is black and yellow spotted, called banded or 
timber. They have no feet or legs, but have double reproductive organs, both 

23,6 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

the male and female. Their scent is very acute, and by scent they find food 
and their mates. Our snake attains the length of five feet, but usually only 
four and one-half feet, and they inhabit the barren, rocky portions of the 
northwest, formerly in immense numbers, but of late years they are not so 
plentiful. 

Dr. Ferd. Hoffman, of our town, celebrated as a snake-charmer, brought 
a rattlesnake into our store one day, in a little box covered with wire screen. 
The snake was small, being only thirty inches long and having seven rattles. 
Desiring to see the reptile eat, and knowing that they will not eat anything 
but what they kill themselves, we conceived the idea of furnishing his king- 




Rattlesnake Pele catching banded rattlers in Venango County 

ship a repast. Mr. Robert Scofield went out and captured a large field-mouse 
(not mole) and brought it in, and, in the presence of myself, Scofield, Albert 
Gooder, 'Squire McLaughlin and brother, and Frank Arthurs, dropped it into 
the box under the screen. The box was fourteen inches long and seven inches 
wide. The snake, being lively, immediately struck the mouse back of the 
head. The mouse gave a little squeak of terror and ran fourteen inches, then 
staggered fourteen inches, the length of the box, then was apparently seized 
with spinal paralysis, for it had to draw its hind limbs with its front feet to 
a corner of the box. It then raised up and fell dead on its back. After 

237 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

striking the mouse, the snake paid no attention to anything until the mouse 
dropped over dead, then his snakeship wakened up and apparently smelled 
(examined) the mouse all over. Satisfied it was healthy and good food, the 
snake caught the mouse by the nose and pulled it out of the corner. After 




Dr. Ferd. Hoffman, of Erookville 

this was done, the snake commenced the process of swallowing in this manner, 
— viz. : He opened his jaws and took the head of the mouse in one swallow, 
pulling alternately by the hooks in the upper and lower jaw, thus forcing the 
mouse downward, taking an occasional rest, swallowing and resting six times 
in the process. He rattled vigorously three times during this procedure. It 
is said they rattle only when in fear or in danger. 

238 



This rattling of his must 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

have been a notice to us that he was dining, and to stand back. The rattler 
is the most intelligent of all snake kind. 

I am informed by my friend Dr. Hoffman, of Brookville, Pennsylvania, 
that the rattlesnake is possessed of both intelligence and a memory ; that he 
can be domesticated, and in that state become quite affectionate and fond of 
his master, and that snakes thus domesticated will vie and dispute with each 
other in manifestations of affection to and for their master. They have their 
dislikes also. He also informs me that rattlesnakes are unlike in disposition, — 
some are cross and ugly, while others are docile and pleasant. 

He also informs me that the rattlesnake can be trained to perform tricks, 
as he has thus trained them himself and made them proficient in numerous 
acrobatic tricks, such as suspending a number by the head of one on his thumb, 
the forming of a suspension chain or bridge, and many other tricks too 
numerous to relate. 

To my personal knowledge, he has educated or trained the rattlers in 
numbers to perform in the manner indicated here, and without removing, in 
a single instance, any poisonous tooth or sac. These trained rattlers will 
fight any stranger the moment he presents himself ; but if the master or their 
acquaintance presents himself, the rattlers will at once recognize him, and to 
him be kind, docile, and affectionate. A rattler matures at the age of two 
years, and at three is full grown. 

"All the different species of rattlesnakes are provided with two small 
sacs, each of which contains a minute quantity of poison, and communicates, 
by means of a short excretory duct, with the canal in the fang on each side 
of the upper jaw. It is enclosed by a bony framework, situated external to 
the proper jaw, and is under the control of appropriate muscles, the action 
of which aids materially in expelling its contents. The fangs, situated just 
at the verge of the mouth, are very long, sharp, and crooked, like the claws 
of a cat, and are naturally retracted and concealed in a fold of integument; 
but, when the animal is irritated, are capable of being instantly raised, and 
darted forward with great force into the skin, followed by an emission of 
poison. The snake, then, does not bite, but strikes, making a punctured 
wound. 

" The poison of the rattlesnake is a thin, semi-transparent, albuminous 
fluid, of a yellowish color, with, occasionally, a tinge of green, and is deadly. 
When a bite is not fatal it is because of no poison in sack, broken teeth, or 
failure to puncture the skin or clothing. It is fatal in from ten minutes to 
two hours. , 

" The quantity of venom contained in the poison-bag does not generally 
exceed a teaspoonful ; but it accumulates when the animal is inactive, and Dr. 
Mitchell had a snake which, on one occasion, ejected fifteen drops, its fang 
not having been used for several weeks. It is peculiarly acrid and deadly in 
hot weather and during the procreating season. In winter and early spring 

239 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 



the reptile is in a torpid condition, and the poison is then diminished in quan- 
tity, and unusually thick, although not less virulent." 

Nearly every variety of the snake family is oviparous. The eggs are 
oblong. The blacksnake lays a large number of eggs, about the size of your 
thumb, in July or August. During this breeding season blacksnakes are 
bold, and will attack persons with great courage if their nests are approached. 
The attack is with activity and by direct assault. Their bite is harmless, and 
the blacksnake is a great tree-climber. The rattlesnake is viviparous, and 




Peter Gruber, now of Rochester. New York, late of Oil City. Pennsylvania, taking the poison from a diamond- 
back rattler for the author 



has from five to twenty young in July or August, each eight to fourteen inches 
long and as thick as a lead-pencil. They are ready to fight, and eat a mouse 
or young squirrel every fifth day. The male is the slimmest. The blacksnake 
and rattlesnake" are mortal enemies. They always fight when they meet, the 
blacksnake usually kills the other, his activity enabling him to tear the rattler 
to pieces. He coils himself around the head and tail of the rattler, and then 
pulls him in two. Snakes have what phrenologists call love of home. A 

240 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

rattler will travel forty miles to winter in his ancestral den. Snakes have ears, 
but no apparent external opening, the orifice being covered with a scale. They 
usually travel in mated pairs ; if you kill one there is another near by. Usually 
when one snake rattles in a den they all commence. The sickening odor of the 
den is due to urination when excited. Rattlesnake oil is in great repute as a 
medicine for external application. 

The copperheads have their young alive, and never more than seven at 
a birth. The young are ready to fight from birth. 

" Rattlesnake Pete," * of Rochester, New York, has been bitten by rattlers 
over eighteen times, and, as a result, has passed a good deal of his time in 
hospitals, swathed in bandages, and enduring the most agonizing pains. 




Blacksnake 



" Whenever I am bitten now," he remarked to me, " I never suck the wound. 
If there were any slight superficial wound in the mouth, such as a scratch, 
the venom would thus get into the system and would perhaps prove fatal. 
Directly I have been bitten I cut the flesh around the puncture and make 
another wound between the injured spot and the heart with a sharp knife, 
which I always carry with me in case of such an emergency. Into these two 
self-inflicted wounds I then inject permanganate of potash, which has the 
effect of nullifying the serpent's venom." 

The snapping-turtle, the mud-turtle, and the diamond-back terrapin ex- 
isted in countless numbers in the swamps and around the streams, and formed 
a part of the Indian's food. The tree-toad, the common toad, common frog, 



* Peter Gruber, who was born and raised near Oil City, Pennsylvania. 
16 241 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

lizard, and water-lizard lived here In-fore the pioneers look possession of the 
latul 

The tools of the pioneer were the axe. six-inch anger, the drawing-knife, 
the shaving-knife, a hroadaxe, and a cross-cut saw. These were " all used 
in the creeling of his shelters." The dexterity of the pioneer in the " sleight" 
and use of the axe was remarkable, indeed marvellous, lie used it in clear- 
ing land, making fences, chopping tirewood. cutting paths and roads, building 
cabins, bridges, and corduroy. In fact, in all work and hunting, in travelling 
by land, in canoeing and rafting on the water, the axe was ever the friend 
and companion of the pioneer. 

The civilized man in his first undertakings was fanner, carpenter, mason, 
merchant, and manufacturer — complete, though primitive, in the individual. 
Bui he was a farmer first and foremost, and used the other avocations merely 
as incidentals to the first and chief employment. Less than halt a century 
has elapsed since the spinning-wheel and the loom were common and neces- 
sary in the home. 

SOLDIERS of tStJ WHO PASSED THROUGH litis WILDERNESS TO FIGHT GREAT 
BRITAIN — AN INTERESTING vCCOUNT OF THE PENNSYLVANIA MILITIA 
W UUll MARCHED OVER 1111-: OLD STATE ROAD THROUGH BROOKVILLE AND 
WITHIN TWO MILES OF WHERE REYNOLDSVILLE NOW STANDS, NEAR WHERE 
CLARION BOROUGH NOW IS, WHILE ON ITS V\ \Y CO ERIE 
George Washington never passed through any portion of Jefferson 
County with soldiers: neither did Colonel Bird, who was stationed at Fort 
Augusta in 1756; neither was there a "road brushed out for the purpose 
of transferring troops to Erie." In 1S14, early in the spring, a detachment 
of soldiers, under command of Major William McClelland, travelled through 
our county, over the old State Road < Bald Eagle's Nest and l.c Bceuf Road) 
to Erie. They encamped at Soldiers' Run. in what is now Winslow Town- 
ship, rested at Tort Barnett for four days, and encamped over night at die 
" four-mile" spring, on what is now the Afton farm. Elijah M. Graham was 
impressed with his two " pack-horses" into their service, and was taken as 
far as French Creek, now in Venango County, 

Joseph B. Graham gave me these facts in regard to McClelland. 
These soldiers were Pennsylvania volunteers and drafted men. and were 
from Franklin County, Major McClelland, with his officers and men. passed 
through where Brookville now is. over the old Milesburg and Waterford Road. 
'Three detachments of troops left Franklin County during the years iSu-14 
at three different times. — one by way of Pittsburg, one by way of Baltimore, 
and the last one through this wilderness. All of these troops in these three 
detachments were under the supervision of the brigade inspector. Major 
McClelland. 

1 quote from an early history of Franklin County. Pennsylvania : 

-4- 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

In the early part of the year 1814, the general government having made 
a call upon the State of Pennsylvania for more troops, Governor Simon Snyder, 
about the beginning of February of that year, ordered a draft for one thousand 
men from the counties of York, Adams, Franklin, and Cumberland, Cumber- 
land County to raise five hundred men and the other counties the balance. 
The quota of Franklin County was ordered to assemble at Loudon on the 
1st of March, 181 4. What was its exact number J have not been able to 
ascertain. 

"At that time Captain Samuel Dunn, of Path Valley, had a small volun- 
teer company under his command, numbering about forty men. These, I am 
informed, volunteered to go as part of the quota of the county, and were 
accepted. Drafts were then made to furnish the balance of the quota, and 
one full company of drafted men, under the command of Captain Samuel 
Gordon, of Waynesburg, and one partial company, under command of Cap- 
tain Jacob Stake, of Lurgan Township, were organized, and assembled at 
Loudon in pursuance of the orders of the governor. There the command of 
the detachment was assumed by Major William McClelland, brigade inspector 
of the county, who conducted it to Erie, ft moved from Loudon on the 4th 
of March, and was twenty-eight days in reaching Erie. According to Major 
McClelland's report 011 file in the auditor-general's office at Harrisburg, it 
was composed of one major, three captains, five lieutenants, two ensigns, and 
two hundred and twenty-one privates. 

"Captain Jacob Stake lived along the foot of the mountains, between 
Roxbury and Strasburg. He went as captain of a company of drafted men 
as far as Erie, at which place his company was merged into those of Captains 
Dunn and Gordon, as the commissions of those officers antedated his commis- 
sion, and there were not men enough in their companies to fill them up to the 
required complement." 

Upon the arrival of these troops at Erie, and after their organization 
into companies, they were put into the Fifth Regiment of the Pennsylvania 
troops, commanded by Colonel James Fenton, of that regiment. James Wood, 
of Greencastle, was major, and Thomas Poe, of Antrim Township, adjutant, 
the whole army being under the command of Major General Jacob Brown, a 
gallant soldier. 

Adjutant Poe is reputed to have been a gallant officer, one to whom fear 
was unknown. On one occasion he quelled a mutiny among the men in camp, 
unaided by any other person. The mutineers afterwards declared that they 
saw death in his eyes when he gave them the command to " return to quarters." 
He fell mortally wounded at the battle of Chippewa, July 5, 1814, and died 
shortly afterwards. 

These soldiers did valiant service against the British. They fought in 
the desperate battles of Chippewa and Lundy's Lane, on July 5 and 25 of the 
year 1814. 

243 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

WARS OF THE UNITED STATES 1775-1865 

War of the Revolution. — April 19, 1775, to April 11, 1783. Regulars, 
130,711 ; militia and volunteers, 164,080; total, 309,781. Number of Ameri- 
cans killed, wounded, and missing. 12,861. Navy, vessels, 4; Americans 
killed, 912. 

Daniel F. Bakeman, the last survivor of the war of the Revolution, died 
in Freedom, Cattaraugus County, New York, April 5, 1869, aged one hundred 
and nine years. 

War with France. — July 9, 1798, to September 30, 1800. Entirely naval. 
Men, 4593. Americans won every battle. 

War with Tripoli. — June 10, 1801, to June 4, 1805. Naval. Men, 3330. 
Americans won every battle. 

War of 1812. — June 18, 1812, to February 17, 1815. Regulars, 85,000; 
militia and volunteers, 471,622 ; total, 576,622. Americans killed, wounded, 
and missing, 5614. American navy had twelve vessels at outbreak of war. 
England, one thousand. Fifteen battles were fought on the sea. Americans 
victorious in twelve. Americans killed, 1233. 

War with Mexico. — April 12, 1846, to July 4, 1848: Regulars, 30,954; 
militia and volunteers, 7^,776; total, 112,230. 

Americans killed, 4,197; Americans killed in navy, 140; killed from 
Jefferson County, 1. 

The United States has always been successful in every war, on land 
or sea. 

A British statesman made the declaration at the commencement of hos- 
tilities in 1812, " that the assembled navy of America could not lay siege to 
an English sloop of war." I guess the siege was pretty well laid. 

The aggregate number of men raised by the government for the 
Union armies from 1861 to 1865 reached over two million six hundred 
and eighty-eight thousand soldiers, and if you add to this the Confederate 
forces, you will have a grand aggregate of four million of men, at once 
the largest force ever put on a war footing in any one country in any age of 
the world. 

The United States paid during the Mexican War, to privates in in- 
fantry, seven dollars per month, and to privates in cavalry, eight dollars 
per month. 

In the war of the Rebellion the United States government paid, until 
August, 1 86 1, to privates of cavalry, twelve dollars per month, and to privates 
of infantry, eleven dollars per month. From August 6, 1861, until January 
1. 1862, the pay of privates was thirteen dollars per month. Specie payment 
was suspended by the nation, January 1, 1862, and all payments to soldiers 
after that were in depreciated currency. From January 1, 1862, the pay of 
all privates in currency was thirteen dollars per month, until May 1, 1864, 
equal to about eight dollars in gold. From May 1. 1864, to the close of the 

244 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

war in 1865, the pay of all private soldiers was sixteen dollars per month in 
currency, equal to about ten dollars per month in gold. 

Over fourteen million lives were lost from 1800 to 1900 in war. 

COST OF PENSIONS 

" Of the amount that has been expended for pensions since the foundation 
of the government, $70,000,000 was on account of the war of the Revolu- 
tion, $45,326,774.16 on account of service in the war of 1812, $6,980,896.93 
on account of service in the Indian wars, $35,162,130.35 on account of ser- 
vice in the Mexican war, $8,586,200.09 on account of the war with Spain, 
$2,287,924.99 on account of the regular establishment, and $3,011,373,235.13 
on account of the War of the Rebellion." 

AN OUTLINE OF THE PIONEER LEGAL RELATIONS OF MAN AND WIFE 

Up to and later than 1843, Pennsylvania was under the common law 
system of England. Under this law the wife had no legal separate existence. 
The husband had the right to whip her, and only in the event of her com- 
mitting crimes had she a separate existence from her husband. But if the 
crime was committed in her husband's presence, she was then presumed not 
guilty. Her condition was legally little, if any, better than that of a slave. 

Under the common law, husband and wife were considered as one person, 
and on this principle all their civil duties and relations rested. 

The wife could not sue in her own name, but only through her husband. 
If she suffered wrong in her person or property, she could, with her hus- 
band's aid and assistance, prosecute, but the husband had to be the plaintiff. 
For crimes without any presumed coercion of her husband, the wife could 
be prosecuted and punished, and for these misdemeanors the punishments were 
severe. 

The wife could make no contract with her husband. The husband and 
she could make a contract through the agency of trustees for the wife, the 
wife, though, being still under the protection of her husband. 

All contracts made between husband and wife before marriage were void 
after the ceremony. The husband could in no wise convey lands or realty 
to his wife, only and except through a trustee. A husband at death could 
bequeath real estate to his wife. 

Marriage gave the husband all right and title to his wife's property, 
whether real or personal, but he then became liable for all her debts and con- 
tracts, even those that were made before marriage, and after marriage he 
was so liable, except for " superfluities and extravagances." 

If the wife died before the husband and left no children, the husband and 
his heirs inherited her real estate. But if there were children, the husband 
remained in possession of her land during the lifetime of the wife, and at 
his death the land went to the wife's heirs. 

245 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

All debts due to the wife became after marriage the property of the hus- 
band, who became invested with power to sue on bond, note, or any other 
obligation, to his own and exclusive use. The powers of discharge and assign- ■ 
merit and change of securities were, of course, involved in the leading prin- 
ciple. If the husband died before the recovery of the money, or any change 
in the securities, the wife became entitled to these debts, etc., in her own right. 
All personal property of the wife, such as money, goods, movables, and stocks, 
became absolutely the property of the husband upon marriage, and at his death 
went to his heirs. 

Property could be given to a wife by deed of marriage settlement. 

Property could be settled on the wife after marriage by the husband, pro- 
vided he was solvent at the time and the transfer not made with a view to 
defraud. 

The wife could not sell her land, but any real estate settled upon her to 
a trustee she could bequeath. 

The husband and wife could not be witnesses against each other in civil 
or criminal cases where the testimony could in the least favor or criminate 
either. One exception only existed to this rule, and that was that " the per- 
sonal safety or the life of the wife gave her permission to testify for her 
protection." For further information, see my " Recollections." 

A PIONEER SONG THAT WAS SUNG IN EVERY FAMILY 

" Old Grimes is dead, that good old man. 
We ne'er shall see him more: 
He used to wear a long black coat 
All buttoned down before. 

" His heart was open as the day. 
His feelings all were true ; 
His hair was some inclined to gray, 
He wore it in a queue. 

" Whene'er he heard the voice of pain 
His breast with pity burned : 
The large round head upon his cane 
From ivory was turned. 

'" Kind words he ever had for all ; 
He knew no base design ; 
His eyes were dark and rather small, 
His nose was aquiline. 

" He lived in peace with all mankind, 
In friendship he was true : 
His coat had pocket-holes behind, 
His pantaloons were blue. 
246 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" Unharmed, the sin which earth pollutes 
He passed securely o'er, 
And never wore a pair of boots 
For thirty years or more. 

" But good Old Grimes is now at rest. 
Nor fears misfortune's frown ; 
He wore a double-breasted vest, 
The stripes ran up and down. 

" He modest merit sought to find. 
And pay it its desert : 
He had no malice in his mind. 
No ruffles on his shirt. 

" His neighbors he did not abuse. 
Was sociable and gay ; 
He wore large buckles on his shoes, 
And changed them every day. 

" His knowledge hid from public gaze 
He did not bring to view, 
Nor make a noise town-meeting days. 
As many people do. 

" His worldly goods he never threw 
In trust to fortune's chances, 
But lived (as all his brothers do) 
In easy circumstances. 

" Thus undisturbed by anxious cares 
His peaceful moments ran ; 
And everybody said he was 
A fine old gentleman." 

— Albert G. Greene. 

EARLY AND PIONEER MUSIC PIONEER MUSIC-SCHOOLS AND PIONEER SINGING- 
MASTERS IN JEFFERSON COUNTY 

" Oh, tell me the tales I delighted to hear. 
Long, long ago, long, long ago ; 
Oh, sing me the old songs so full of cheer, 
Long, long ago, long, long ago." 

I. D. Hughes, of Punxsutawney, informs me that the first music-book 
he bought was Wyeth's " Repository of Sacred Music," second edition. I 
have seen this book myself, but a later edition (the fifth), published in 1820. 
Mr. Hughes says that Joseph Thompson, of Dowlingville, was the pioneer 
" singing-master" in Jefferson County, and that he sang from Wakefield's 
" Harp," second edition. He used a tuning-fork to sound the pitches, and 
accompanied his vocal instruction with violin music. 

247 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

George James was an early " master," and used the same book as Thomp- 
son. These two taught in the early thirties. I. D. Hughes taught in 1840 
and used the " Missouri Harmony." This was a collection of psalm and hymn 
tunes and anthems, and was published by Morgan & Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. 
The first tune in this old " Harmony," or " buckwheat" note-book, was 
" Primrose" : 

" Salvation, oh, the joyful sound, 
'Tis pleasure to our ears, 
A sovereign balm for every wound, 
A cordial for our fears." 

On the second page was " Old Hundred," and on the same page 
" Canaan" : 

" On Jordan's stormy banks I stand. 
And cast a wishful eye 
To Canaan's fair and happy land, 
Where my possessions lie." 

The dear old pioneers who used to delight in these sweet melodies have 
nearly all crossed this Jordan, and are now doubtless singing " Harwell" : 

" Hark ! ten thousand harps and voices 
Sound the note of praise above; 
Jesus reigns, and heaven rejoices; 
Jesus reigns, the God of love." 

Rev. George M. Slaysman, of Punxsutawney, was the pioneer teacher of 
round notes — the do ra mc's — in the county. Judge William P. Jenks was 
also an early instructor in these notes. 

We talk about progress, rapid transit, and electricity, but modern music- 
teachers have failed to improve on the melody of those old pioneer tunes, 
" that seemed like echoes from a heavenly choir ; echoes that seemed to have 
increased power every time the pearly gates opened to admit some sainted 
father or mother." 

"God sent these singers upon earth 
With songs of sadness and of mirth. 
That they might touch the hearts of men 
And bring them back to Heaven again." 

The pioneer organ used in church music was in Boston in 17 14. 

A PIONEER SONG FOR THE SUGAR-TROUGH CRADLE 
DR. WATTS' CRADLE HYMN 

" Hush, my babe, lie still and slumber, 
Holy angels guard thy bed ; 
Heavenly blessings, without number. 
Gently falling on thy head. 
248 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" Sleep, my babe, thy food and raiment, 
House and home thy friends provide, 
All without thy care or payment, 
All thy wants are well supplied. 

" How much better thou'rt attended 
Than the Son of God could be, 
When from heaven He descended 
And became a child like thee. 

" Soft and easy is thy cradle, 

Coarse and hard thy Saviour lay, 
When His birthplace was a stable. 
And his softest bed was hay. 

" Blessed babe ! what glorious features. 
Spotless, fair, divinely bright ! 
Must He dwell with brutal creatures? 
How could angels bear the sight ? 

" Was there nothing but a manger 
Wicked sinners could afford 
To receive the heavenly stranger? 
Did they thus affront the Lord? 

" Soft, my child, I did not chide thee, 

Though my song may sound too hard : 
'Tis thy mother sits beside thee, 
And her arms shall be thy guard. 

" Yet, to read the shameful story, 
How the Jews abused their King ; 
How they served the Lord of Glory, 
Makes me angry while I sing. 

" See the kinder shepherds round Him, 
Telling wonders from the sky ; 
There they sought Him, there they found Him, 
With his virgin mother by. 

" See the lovely babe a-dressing, 
Lovely infant ! how He smiled ! 
When He wept, His mother's blessing 
Soothed and hushed the holy child. 

" Lo ! He slumbers in a manger 
Where the horned oxen fed ! 
Peace, my darling, here's no danger, 
Here's no ox about thy bed. 

" 'Twas to save thee, child, from dying, 
Save my dear from burning flame, 
Bitter groans, and endless crying, 
That thy blest Redeemer came. 
249 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" May' st thou live to know and fear Him, 
Trust and love Him all thy days ! 
Then go dwell forever near Him, 
See His face and sing His praise. 

" I could give thee thousand kisses 

Hoping what J most desire ; 

Not a mother's fondest wishes' 

Can to greater joys aspire." 

MAPLE-SUGAR INDUSTRY 

One of the pioneer industries in this wilderness was maple-sugar-making. 
The sugar season commenced either in the last of February or the first of 
March. In any event, at this time the manufacturer always visited his camp 
to see or set things in order. The camp was a small cabin made of logs, 
covered usually with clapboards, and open at one end. The fireplace or crane 
and hooks were made in this way : Before the opening in the cabin four 
wooden forks were deeply set in the ground, and on these forks was suspended 
a strong pole. On this pole was hung the hook of a limb, with a pin in the 
lower end to hang the kettle on. An average camp had about three hundred 
trees, and it required six kettles, averaging about twenty-two gallons each, 
to boil the water from that many trees. The trees were tapped in various 
ways, — viz. : First, with a three-quarter-inch auger, one or two inches deep. 
In this hole was put a round spile about eighteen inches long, made of sumach 
or whittled pine, two spiles to a tree. The later way was by cutting a hollow 
notch in the tree and putting the spile below with a gouge. This spile was 
made of pine or some soft wood. When a boy I lived about five years with 
Joseph and James McCurdy, in what is now Washington Township, and the 
latter method of opening trees was practised by them. Indeed, all I say here 
about this industry I learned from and while with them. At the camp there 
were always from one to three storage-troughs made of cucumber or poplar, 
and each trough held from ten barrels upward. Three hundred trees required 
a storage of thirty barrels and steady boiling with six kettles. The small 
troughs under the trees were made of pine and cucumber and held from three 
to six gallons. We hauled the water to the storage-troughs with one horse 
and a kind of " pung." the barrel being kept in its place by plank just far 
enough apart to hold it tight. In the fireplace there was a large back log and 
one a little smaller in front. The fire was kept up late and early with smaller 
wood split in lengths of about three feet. We boiled the water into a thick 
syrup, then strained it through a woollen cloth while hot into the syrup- 
barrel. When it had settled, and before putting it on to " sugar off," we 
strained it the second time. During this sugaring we skimmed the scum off 
with a tin skimmer and clarified the syrup in the kettle with eggs well beaten 
in sweet milk. This " sugaring off" was always done in cloudy or cold days, 
when the trees wouldn't run " sap." One barrel of sugar-water from a sugar- 

250 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

tree, in the beginning of the season, would make from five to seven pounds 
of sugar. The sugar was always made during the first of the season. The 
molasses was made at the last of the season, or else it would turn to 
sugar in a very few days. The sugar was made in cakes, or " stirred off" 
in a granulated condition, and sold in the market for from six and a quarter 
to twelve and a half cents a pound. In " sugaring off," the syrup had to be 
frequently sampled by dropping some of it in a tin of cold water, and if the 
molasses formed a " thread" that was brittle like glass, it was fit to stir, 
f was good at sampling-, and always anxious to try the svrup, as James 




James McCurdy. Born January, 1816 ; died October. 1902 



McCurdy. if he were living, could substantiate. In truth, I was never very 
hungry during sugar-making, as I had a continual feast during this season of 
hot syrup, treacle, and sugar. 

Skill and attention were both necessary in " sugaring off," for if the syrup 
was taken off too soon the sugar was wet and tough, and if left on too long, 
the sugar was burnt and bitter. Time has evoluted this industry from North- 
western Pennsylvania. 

Sugar is supposed to have been first used by the Hebrews. 

253 



HISTORY OV NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Joseph McCurdy came to Beechwoods, Jefferson County, from Indiana 
Count) in the year 1834, lie was accompanied b\ his mother, two brothers, 
Robert and James, and three sisters, Martha, Margaret, who married John 
Millen, and Betsy, who married Andrew Hunter. They settled where lames 
McCurdy lived before his recent death. As a man. he was very quiet and 
unassuming', without show or pretence. He u.b faithful as a Christian, firm 
and decided as an elder in maintaining discipline in the church, and mild in 
enforcing the same; a firm believer in the doctrines of the Presbyterian 
Church as being the truths taught by the Word of God, These truths he un- 
flinchingly maintained and defended through life, lie did much for the 
church, and after his death his mantle fell upon his brother lames. 

now rttK PIONEER tun f u is iwutx 

" On the first day the material was gathered at the point for erection, the 
clapboards for the roof and the puncheons for the floors were made. The 
puncheons were made from trees eighteen inches in diameter, and had the 
face hewed by a broad-axe, I'hoy were in length one-halt that ^i the floor, 

" In the morning of the next day the neighbors collected for the raising. 
The first thing to be done was the election of four comer-men, whose business 
it was to notch and plaee the logs. The rest of the company furnished them 
with the timbers. In the mean time the boards and puncheons were collect- 
ing for the floor and roof, so that b\ the time the cabin was a few rounds 
high, the sleepers and floor began to be laid. The door was made by sawing 
,'i cutting the logs in one side, so as to make an opening about three feet 
wide. This opening was secured by upright pieees of timber, about three 
inches thick, through which holes were bored into the ends of the logs, for 
the purpose of pinning them fast. A similar opening, but wider, was made 
at the end for the chimney. Phis was built of logs, and made large, to admit 
of a back and iambs of stone. At the square, two end logs projected a foot 
or eighteen inches beyond the wall, to receive the butting poles, as they were 
called, against which the first row of clapboards was supported. The roof 
was formed by making the end logs shorter, until a single log formed the comb 
of the roof. On these logs the clapboards were placed, the ranges of them 
lapping some distance over those next below them, and kept in their places 
by logs placed at proper distances upon them. 

" The roof, and sometimes the floor, were finished on the same day of 
the raising. A third day was commonly spent by a few carpenters in levelling 
off the floor, making a clapboard door and a table. This last was made of a 
split slab, and supported by four round logs set in auger-holes. Some three- 
legged stools were made in the same manner. Some pins stuck in the log's 
at the back of the house supported some clapboards, which served for shelves 
for the table furniture. A single fork, placed with its lower end in a hole 
in the floor, and the upper end fasteuo joist, served for a bedstead, by 

-54 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

placing a pole in the fork, with one end through a crack between the logs of 
the wall. This front pole was crossed by a shorter one within the fork, with 
its outer end through another crack. From the front pole, through a crack 
between the logs of the end of the house, the boards were put on which 
formed the bottom of the bed. Sometimes other poles were pinned to the 
fork a little distance above these, for the purpose of supporting the front 
and foot of the bed, while the walls were the supports of its back and head. 
A few pegs around the walls, for a display of the coats of the women and 




Cabin burn 

hunting-shirts of the men, and two small forks or buck's horns fastened to 
a joist for the rifle and shot-pouch, completed the carpenter work. 

In the mean time the masons were at work. With the heart pieces of 
timber of which the clapboards were made, they made billets for chunking up 
the cracks between the logs of tin- cabin and chimney. A large bed of mortar 
was made for daubing up these cracks. A few stones formed the back and 
jambs of the chimney." 



255 



CHAPTER Mil 



. ,\ SJ SSJtQNARY WORK P \ 5 CHURCHES, ORGANIZATIONS, ETC.— REV. 

\ v - \ w • Q B <> SYNODS \NP PREACHERS 

" It v* rv' g 
S\w, . - . ".on while «re 

Tu \. - - travel through this wilderness was a Moravian 

ssionan cm .. preacher of the Unite* . ire ch, the Rev. Christian 

Fred* e V>st. He s - ' elphia to the Ohio [Allegheny) 

Khv --S nission *e gove nment of Pennsylvania to the 

e, Shawnee, . g ans. These Indians were then in alli- 

v. . • k - ■- ■ and Re\ Post's aiss i vas to prevail on them 

anee. Post passed throngh what is now Jefferson 

>vei Boon* - '■■ mntain, crosse s »bec v l -ittle 

tig robee l^Big Toby) Creek. 

Vast's • iwinges act: 

g .. We cj . ss sev< ..'. places where t« es, painted 

ares ek rheg and by the [n - s which the\ tye the prisoners, 

a • thej stop at nig-ht. in their return from their inc. skms We arrived 

Shing mice, where was another of the - - «ts. It is 
sagreeabh . sig see the means they make us* accord- 

ig t j savage stress others. 

.- We came to - ed Tobeco, over the mountains, 

. ry kid ros 

We lost* . worses and with much difficult 
were . . . cconnt [at what is now Brockwayville]. 
I ha. much . ersatior Ss etumen [an [ndian duel 
with him]; • 1 think yself further when 1 get ro my 

We -. • us e a goc twig stretc - ss 

' '--" -• ■ - s fat Cooks 

temisfOrtuw semi »ocket-book with three 

s 4her things What writings .' ■ . ■ eg • 
s* 

V . - ' - • - - Weshawaucks, aw 

.- >ss* « .. .'■■ c> miles in length ere \ve step gk 

- We cam* is gt Venange " ankKn], belong s 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

to the French, situate between two mountains, in a fork of the Ohio [Alle- 
gheny] river. When we arrived, the fort being on the other side of the river, 
we hallooed, and desired them to fetch us over : which they were afraid to do ; 
but showed us a place where we might ford. We slept that night within half 
gun shot of the fort." 

********* 

" Christian Frederic Post accompanied by several friendly Indians, set 
oui from Bethlehem on the 19th of July, for Fort Augusta (Sunbury). There 
he took the path along the right bank of the West Branch, leading over the 
Chillisquaque, over Muncy, Loyalsock, and Pine Creeks, crossed the Susque- 
hanna at the Great Island, and then struck one of the main Indian thorough- 
fares to the West. On the 30th of July he forded I leech Creek, on whose left 
bank he came to the forks of the road. One branch led southwest along the 
Bald Eagle, past the Nest to Frankstown, and thence to the Ohio country ; 
the other due west to Chinklacamoose. Post took the latter, ft led over the 
Moshannon, which he crossed on the 1st of August. Next day he arrived 
at the village of Chinklacamoose in the ' Clear Fields.' Hence the travellers 
struck a trail to the northwest, crossed Toby's Creek (Clarion River), and on 
the 7th of August reached Fort Venango, built by the French in 1753, in the 
forks of the Allegheny. ' I prayed the Lord,' writes Post, ' to blind the French, 
as he did the enemies of Lot and Elisha, that I might pass unknown.' 

" Leaving Venango, Post and his companions turned their horses' heads 
to the southwest, struck the Conequenessing [now in Butler County] on the 
12th of August, crossed the Big Beaver, and next day arrived at Kaskadkie, 
the terminus of their journey and the head-quarters of ' the Beavers' and 
' Shingas,' war-chiefs of the western Uelawares." Post was, therefore, the 
first Moravian west of the Alleghenies. He closes his interesting journal 
with these words : 

" Thirty-two days that I lay in the woods, the heavens were my covering, 
and the dew fell so hard sometimes that it pricked close to the skin. During 
this time nothing lay so heavily on my heart as the man who went along with 
me [Shamokin Daniel], for he thwarted me in everything I said or did; not 
that he did it against me, but against the country on whose business I was 
sent. When he was with the French he would speak against the English, 
and when he was with the English he would speak against the French. The 
Indians observed that he was unreliable, and desired me not to bring him 
any more to transact business between them and the prisoners. But praise 
and glory be to the Lamb that was slain, who brought me through a country 
of dreadful jealousy and mistrust, where the Prince of this world holds rule 
and government over the children of disobedience. It was my Lord who 
preserved me amid all difficulties and dangers, and his Holy Spirit directed 
me. I had no one to commune with, but Him : and it was He who brought 
me from under a thick, heavy, and dark cloud into the open air, for which 
17 257 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

I adore, and praise and worship Him. 1 know and confess that He. the Lord 
my God, the same who forgave my sins and washed my heart in his most 
precious Mood, grasped me in his Almighty hand and held me sate. — and 
hence 1 live no longer tor myself, but tor Him. whose holy will to do is my 
chiefest pleasure." 

" Christian Frederic Lost, the most adventurous of Moravian mission- 
aries employed among the North American Indians, was born at Conitz, Polish 
Prussia, in 1710. He immigrated to this country in June. 1742. Between 
1743 and 1740 he was a missionary to the Moravian Indians in Xew York 
and Connecticut. He first married Rachel, a Wampanoag, and after her death. 
Vgnes, a Delaware. Having become a widower a second time. he. in 1751. 
returned to Europe: hence he sailed for Labrador in 1752. engaging in an 
unsuccessful attempt to bring the gospel to the Esquimaux. Having returned 
to Bethlehem in 1754. he was sent to Wyoming, where he preached to the 
Indians until in November of 1755. In the summer of 175S Post undertook 
an embassy in behalf of government to the Delawares and Shawnees of the 
Ohio country, which resulted in the evacuation of Fort Duquesne by the 
French and the restoration of peace. In September of 1701 he engaged in 
an independent mission to the Indians of that distant region, and built him 
a hut on the Tuscarawas, near Bolivar, in Stark County. Ohio. John Hecke- 
welder joined him in the spring of 1702. But the Pontiac war drove the 
missionaries back to the settlements, and the project was abandoned. Im- 
pelled by his ruling passion. Post now sought a new field of activity in the 
southern part of the continent, and in January of 1704 sailed from Charles- 
ton, via Jamaica, for the Mosquito coast. Here he preached to the natives 
for upward of two years. He visited Bethlehem in July of 1707. returned 
to Mosquito, and was in Bethlehem, for the last time, in 1784. At this date 
he was residing with bis third wife, who was an Episcopalian, in German- 
town. Philadelphia. Here he deceased April 20. 17S5. On the 5th of May his 
remains were interred in the Lower Graveyard of that place. Rev. William 
White, of Christ Church, conducting the funeral service. A marble slab. 
bearing an appropriate obituary record, was placed, some thirty years ago. 
upon the veteran missionary's grave." — Transactions of the Moravian His- 
toric, S . v. vol. i. 

The second minister to cry aloud in this wilderness was the Rev. John 
Heckewelder in 1702. He came from Bethlehem over the Chinklacamoose 
trail to Punxsutawnev. He was a Moravian missionary, and travelled thirty 
thousand miles in Indian missionary work between the years 1702 and 1S14. 

The third preacher to penetrate this wilderness was a Moravian min- 
ister, the Rev. David Zeisberger. and he passed through or near Brockway- 
ville over the northwest trail to what was then the Ohio, now the Allegheny 
(in what is now Forest County) River. 

I quote as follows from "Pay's Collections": 

2=£ 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

In the year 1767 an unarmed man of short stature, remarkably plain 
in his dress, and humble and peaceable in his demeanor, emerged from the 
thick forest upon the Allegheny River, in the neighborhood of the Seneca 
towns. This was the Moravian missionary, Rev. David Zeisberger, who, led 
by Anthony and John Papanhunk, Indian guides and assistants in his pious 
labors, had penetrated the dense wilderness of Northern Pennsylvania, from 
Wyalusing, on the Susquehanna, to preach the gospel to the Indians in this 
region. His intended station was at Goshgoshunk, which appears to have 
been on the left bank of the Allegheny, not far from the mouth of the 
Tionesta. Possibly Goshgoshunk was the same as the Indian name Cush-cush. 

" The Seneca chief, believing Brother Zeisberger to be a spy, received 
him roughly at first ; but, softened by his mild demeanor, or perhaps by the 
holy truths which he declared to the chief, he at length bade him welcome, 
and permitted him to go to Goshgoshunk. He warned him, however, not to 
trust the people there, for they had not their equals in wickedness and thirst 
for blood. This was but another incentive to him who came to preach ' not 
to the righteous, but to sinners.' However, on his arrival he was well re- 
ceived, and shared the hospitality of a relative of one of his guides. Gosh- 
goshunk, a town of the Delawares, consisted of three villages on the banks 
of the Ohio [Allegheny]. The whole town seemed to rejoice at the novelty 
of this visit. 

" The missionary found, however, that the Seneca chief had told him 
truly. He was shocked at their heathenish and diabolical rites, and espe- 
cially by their abuse of the holy name of God. An Indian preacher, called 
Wangomen, strenuously resisted the new doctrines of the missionaries, espe- 
cially that of the incarnation of the Deity, and instigated the jealous v of 
his people ; but the truth, preached in its simplicity and power, by the mission- 
aries, overcame him, and he yielded his opposition so far as to join the other 
Indians in an invitation to the missionaries to settle among them. The old 
blind chief, Allemewi, was awakened, and afterwards baptized, with the Chris- 
tian name of Solomon. The missionary went home to report his progress to 
his friends in Bethlehem. The following year Zeisberger returned, accom- 
panied by Brother Gottlob Senseman and several Moravian Indian families 
from the Susquehanna, to establish a regular mission at Goshgoshunk. They 
built a block-house, planted corn, and, gathering round their block-house sev- 
eral huts of believing Indians, they formed a small hamlet, a little separated 
from the other towns. ' To this a great number resorted, and there the 
brethren ceased not, by day and night, to teach and preach Jesus, and God 
in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.' These meetings were fully 
attended, ' and it was curious to see so many of the audience with their faces 
painted black and vermilion and heads decorated with clusters of feathers 
and fox-tails." A violent opposition, however, succeeded, occasioned by the 
malicious lies of the magicians and old women, — ' the corn was blasted, the 

259 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

deer and game began to retire from the woods, no chestnuts nor bilberries 
would grow any more, merely because the missionaries preached a strange 
doctrine, and the Indians were changing their way of life.' Added to this, 
the grand council at Onondaga and Zeneschio (Ischua) looked with extreme 
jealousy upon this new encroachment of white men upon their territories 
and discountenanced the establishment. In consequence of these things the 
missionaries left Goshgoshunk, and retired fifteen miles farther up the river, 
to a place called Lawanakanuck, on the opposite bank, probably near Hickory- 
town. Here they again started a new settlement, built at first a hunting-den, 
and afterwards a chapel and a dwelling-house, ' and a bell, which they re- 
ceived from Bethlehem, was hung in a convenient place.' 

"About the year 1765 the Moravian missionary David Zeisberger estab- 
lished the mission of Friedenschnetten, near the present town of Wyalusing, 
in Bradford County. This town, the name of which signifies ' tents of peace,' 
contained ' thirteen Indian huts, and upward of forty frame houses, shingled, 
and provided with chimneys and windows.' There was another mission about 
thirty miles above Friedenschnetten, — ' Tschechsehequanink,' or, as it was 
translated, ' where a great awakening had taken place.' This latter mission 
was under the charge of Brother Roth. 

" These missions prospered greatly, and much good was done among the 
Indians, until 1768, when the Six Nations, by the treaty made that year, ' sold 
the land from under their feet,' and the missionaries encountered so much 
trouble from both the Indians and whites, that in 1772 the brethren decided 
to abandon these missions and remove to the new field which had been planted 
by the indefatigable Zeisberger on the banks of the Ohio. They therefore 
started from Wyalusing on the 12th day of June, 1772, in number two hun- 
dred and forty-one souls, mostly Indians, of all ages, with their cattle and 
horses. Their destination was Friedenstadt,* near the present site of Beaver, 
Pennsylvania. They were under the guidance of Brothers Roth and Ettewein, 
and their course was from the North Branch across the Allegheny Mountains, 
by way of Bald Eagle, to the Ohio River. Brother Roth conducted those who 
went by water and Brother Ettewein those who travelled by land. In 1886 
the Moravian, published at Bethlehem, gave the journal of Rev. John Ette- 
wein, and we give the extracts from it of the progress of the party, with the 
explanatory foot-notes in the Moravian, translated by Mr. Jordan : 

" ' W* 
" ' Tuesday, July 14. — Reached Clearfield Creek, where the buffaloes 
formerly cleared large tracts of undergrowth, so as to give the appearance 
of cleared fields. Hence, the Indians called the creek " Clearfield." Here 



* " The Annals of Friedenschnetten, on the Susquehanna, with John Ettewein's 
Journal of the Removal of the Mission to Friedenstadt, 1765 and 1772, by John W. 
Jordan." 

260 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

at night and next morning, to the great joy of the hungry, nine deer were 
shot. Whoever shoots a deer has for his private portion, the skin and inside ; 
the meat he must bring into camp and deliver to the distributors. John and 
Cornelius acted in this capacity in our division. It proved advantageous for 
us not to keep so closely together, as we had at first designed ; for if the 
number of families in a camp be large, one or two deer, when cut up, afford 
but a scanty meal to each individual. So it happened that scarce a day passed 
without there being a distribution of venison in the advance, the centre, and 
the rear camp. (On the route there were one hundred and fifty deer and 
but three bears shot.) In this way our Heavenly Father provided for us; 
and I often prayed for our hunters, and returned thanks for their success. 

' Thursday, July 16. — ... I journeyed on, with a few of the brethren, 
two miles in a falling rain, to the site of Chinklacamoose [Clearfield town], 
where we found but three huts, and a few patches of Indian corn. The name 
signifies " No one tarries here willingly." It may, perhaps, be traced to the 
circumstance that some thirty years ago an Indian resided here as a hermit, 
upon a rock, who was wont to appear to the Indian hunters, in frightful 
shapes. Some of these, too, he killed, others he robbed of their skins ; and 
this he did for many years. We moved on four miles, and were obliged to 
wade the West Branch three times, which is here like the Lehigh at Beth- 
lehem, between the island and the mountain, rapid and full of ripples. 

' ' Friday, July iy. — Advanced only four miles to a creek that comes down 
from the northwest.* Had a narrow and stony spot for our camp. 

"Saturday, July 18. — Moved on without awaiting Roth and his divi- 
sion, who on account of the rain had remained in camp. To-day Shebosch lost 
a colt from the bite of a rattlesnake. Here we left the West Branch three 
miles to the Northwest, up the creek, crossing it five times. Here, too, the 
path went precipitately up the mountain, and four or five miles up and up to 
the summit — to a spring the head-waters of the Ohio, f Here I lifted up my 
heart in prayer as I looked westward, that the Son of Grace might rise over 
the heathen nations that dwell beyond the distant horizon. 

' ' Sunday, July ip. — As yesterday, but two families kept with me, be- 
cause of the rain, we had a quiet Sunday, but enough to do drying our effects. 
In the evening all joined me, but we could hold no service as the Ponkis 
[gnats] were so excessively annoying that the cattle pressed toward and into 
our camp, to escape their persecutors in the smoke of the fires. This vermin 
is a plague to man and beast, both by day and night. But in the swamp 
through which we are now passing, their name is legion. Hence the Indians 

* " Anderson's Creek, in Clearfield County, which they struck at a point near the 
present Curwensville." 

f " Probably the source of the North Branch of the Mahoning, which rises in 
Brady Township, Clearfield County, and empties into the Allegheny, in Armstrong 
County, ten miles above Kittanning." 

261 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

call it the Ponksutenink, — i.e., the town of the Ponkis.* The word is equiva- 
lent to living dust and ashes, the vermin being so small as not to be seen, and 
their bite being hot as sparks of fire, or hot ashes. The brethren here related 
an Indian myth, to wit: That the aforecited Indian hermit and sorcerer, after 
having been for so many years a terror to all Indians, had been killed by one 
who had burned his bones, but the ashes he blew into the swamp, and they 
became living things, and hence the Ponkis. 

Monday, July 20. — After discoursing on the daily word — " The Lord 
our God be with us, may he not forsake us" — we travelled on through the 
swamp, and after five miles crossed the path that leads from Frankstown f 
to Goshgoshunk, and two miles from that point encamped at a run. At 5 
p.m., came Brethren Peter, Boaz, and Michael, with fourteen unbaptized 
Indians, from Lagundontenink, to meet us with four horses, and five bushels 
of Indian corn, also Nathaniel's wife from Sheninga \ with a letter from 
Brother Jungman. I thought had I but milk or meat, I would add rice, and 
prepare a supper for the new-comers. But two of them went to hunt, and 
in half an hour Michael brought in a deer to my fire. My eyes moistened 
with tears. Sister Esther hunted up the large camp kettle, and all had their 
fill of rice and venison, and were much pleased. That night and the following 
morning there were four deer shot by the company. 

" ' Tuesday, July 21. — The rear division came up, and the destitute — viz., 
such as had lived solely upon meat and milk — were supplied each with one 
pint of Indian corn. We proceeded six miles to the first creek. In the even- 
ing a number of the brethren came to my fire, and we sat together right 
cheerful until midnight. Once when asleep I was awakened by the singing 
of the brethren who had gathered around the fire of the friends from Lagun- 
dontenink. It refreshed my inmost soul. 

" ' Wednesday, July 22. — We journeyed on four miles, to the first fork § 
where a small creek comes down from the mouth. 

" ' Thursday, July 23. — Also four miles to the second fork, to the creek, 
coming in from the south-east. || As a number of us met here in good time 
we had a meeting. Cornelius's brother-in-law stated that he was desirous of 
being the Lord's ; therefore he had left his friends so as to live with the 
brethren, and to hear of the Saviour. 

" ' Friday, July 24. — The path soon left the creek, over valleys and 
heights to a spring. Now we were out of the swamp, and free from the 



* " Kept down the valley of the Mahoning, into Jefferson County. Punxsutawney 
is a village in v ¥oung Township, Jefferson County. The swamp lies in Gaskill and 
ir |,Ypung Townships, Jefferson County." 

t " Near Hollidaysburg. See Scull's map of 1759 for this path." 
It ; t " Sheninga is a township in Lawrence County, just above Friedenstadt." 

,,,..,,., ,- § " A branch of the Mahoning." 

|| " Query. — The creek that comes in and up below Punxsutawney." 

262 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

plague of the Ponkis. Also found huckleberries, which were very grateful. 
Our to-day's station was five miles, and about so far we advanced on. 

"Saturday, July 25. — On which day we encamped at a Salt Lick, and 
kept Sunday some three miles from the large creek, which has so many 
curves, like a horseshoe, so that if one goes per canoe, when the water is 
high, four days are consumed in reaching the Ohio, whereas, by land, the 
point can be reached in one day.* Our youngsters went to the creek to 
fish, and others to hunt ; and at sunset they came in with two deer, and four 
strings of fish.' " 

"John Roth was born in Brandenburg, February 3, 1726, of Catholic 
parents, and was brought up a locksmith. In 1748 he united with the Mora- 
vians and emigrated to America, arriving at Bethlehem in June of 1756. He 
deceased at York, Pennsylvania, July 22, 1791. 

"John Ettewein was born 29th of June, 1721, in Freudenstadt, Wiir- 
temberg. He united with the Moravians in 1740, and came to Bethlehem in 
April of 1754. Here he was set apart for service in the schools of his adopted 
church, when, in 1758, a new field of labor was assigned him at the Brethren's 
settlements in Western North Carolina (Forsyth and adjacent counties). 
During his residence in Wachovia he itinerated among the spiritually desti- 
tute Germans of South Carolina (1762), and visited the Salburgers and Swiss 
of Ebenezer (in Georgia) in 1765. The following year he was recalled to 
Bethlehem. This place was the scene of his greatest activity, as here, under 
God, he led the Moravian Church in safety through the stormy times of the 
Revolution. He was ordained a bishop in 1784. In 1789 he sailed for Eu- 
rope, and attended a general synod convened at Herrnhut. John Ettewein 
was one of the remarkable men of the Brethren's Church in North America. 
He deceased at Bethlehem, 2d of January, 1802." 

ASSOCIATE REFORMED, SECEDER, OR THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 

This church is one of the youngest of the Presbyterian bodies in America, 
but the history of its antecedents extends back more than a century. Its 
original antecedents were the Associate and Reformed Presbyterian bodies. 
The former body was composed of Presbyterians who seceded from the Gen- 
eral Assembly of Scotland in 1733 and formed themselves into what was 
known as the "Associate Presbytery," or, as the masses knew them, " the 
Seceders." The first minister of that denomination to arrive in America was 
Rev. Alexander Gellatly, who settled at Octorara, Pennsylvania, in 1753, 

* " The Mahoning, formed by the junction of the East and South Branch, which 
meets at Nicholsburg, in Indiana County. This route to the Allegheny was the same 
path taken by Post in 1758, when returning from his second visit to the Ohio Indians 
in that year, and between Chinklacamoose and the Allegheny, over the same path 
travelled by Barbara Leininger in 1755, when Chinklacamoose and Punxsutawney were 
villages. 

263 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

where he labored for eight years. Many members of the body had preceded 
him to this country, settling along the seaboard, and some of them going as 
far south as the Carolinas. The church was largely increased by immigra- 
tion from year to year, and the Presbytery of Pennsylvania was organized 
in 1758. 

The first minister of the Reformed Presbyterian or Covenanter Church 
to arrive in America was Rev. John Cuthbertson, who came in 1752. 

I here reproduce an extract from Rev. David X. Junkins's centennial 
sermon delivered at New Castle, Pennsylvania, in July, 1876: 

" One hundred and nine years ago there came to the Indian town of 
Gosch-gosch-kunk, at the mouth of the Tionesta Creek, where it debouches 
into the Allegheny River, in what is now Forest County, Pennsylvania, a 
solitary German, a minister of the gospel in the Unitas Fratrum Church, 
usually called Moravians. Accompanied by two converted Indians, he had 
set out from the Christian Indian town of Friedenshutten, on the north 
branch of the Susquehanna, which stood near to the present town of Wya- 
lusing (Bradford County). Traversing the unbroken and dense forests of 
Northern Pennsylvania and Southern New York on foot, with but a single 
pack-horse to carry their baggage, after many dangers and hardships they 
arrived at Gosch-gosch-kunk, at the mouth of the Tionesta, on the 16th day 
of October, 1767. This village was only two years old, having been founded 
after the close of Pontiac's war. 

" Soon after, this missionary was joined by his wife, and by John Sense- 
man and his wife, and a band of Christian Indians from the Susquehanna, 
and they attempted to establish a mission at that point. But they found much 
opposition from the chiefs and others, and although they were blest in winning 
a few converts, the roughness of the country, the leanness of the land, and 
the opposition of the natives proved so discouraging that they soon began 
to contemplate a change of locality. God prepared the way for this in a 
most remarkable manner. 

"' The tribes of Indians which roamed along the Allegheny and the Beaver 
at that day were chiefly of the Lenni Lenape or Delaware nation, a branch 
of which was at Gosch-gosch-kunk, called Munseys, but there were mingled 
with them Senecas, Shawnees, and some Mohicans. The Senecas claimed 
the soil on the Allegheny, and their chief, Wangomen, took violent ground 
against the missionaries, and objected to the Munseys, who had built their 
town by permission of the former tribe, permitting the missionaries to build 
houses and a church upon it. Failing to obtain by negotiation the necessary 
privileges, the necessity for a change of locality became imminent. They 
accordingly moved across the Allegheny River, and built a mission town in 
what is now the heart of the Oil Creek oil region. The oil was gath- 
ered even then, and used by both Indians and missionaries for medicinal 

purposes. 

264 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

•' At that time there were two villages of the Lenni Lenape in this vicinity, 
— one near the mouth of the Mahoning, called Kas-kas-kunk. The name of 
the chief who held sway in this valley at that day was Pack-an-ke. His prin- 
cipal sub-chief, counsellor, and warrior was named Glik-kik-an. He was a 
man of great natural powers. His fame as a warrior was only eclipsed by his 
reputation for eloquence. He had fought many battles, both in the wars be- 
tween the tribes and in the wars of the French against the English, and he 
possessed a glowing eloquence which carried all before it at the council-fire. 
He had disputed with Christian Frederick Post at Tuscarawas ; he had 
silenced the Jesuit priests in argument at Venango; and he came up to the 
mission town in the oil region to dispute with and overcome Zeisberger and 
Senseman. Escorted to Lawunack-han-nek by Wangomen and a procession 
of Indians, he entered the mission-house to challenge the missionaries to 
theological combat. Zeisberger being absent, Glik-kik-an was received by 
Anthony, a converted Indian, who, as Zeisberger remarked, ' was as eager 
to bring souls to Christ as a hunter's hound is eager to chase the deer.' 

" Placing food before his guests, he at once introduced the subject of 
religion. 'My friends,' said he, 'I will tell you a great thing. God made 
the heavens and the earth and all things that in them are. Nothing exists 
that God did not make.' Pausing, he added : ' God has created us. But 
who of us knows his Creator ? not one ! I tell you the truth — not one ! For 
we have fallen away from God — we are polluted creatures ; our minds are 
darkened by sin.' 

" Here he sat down and was silent a long time. Suddenly rising again, 
he exclaimed, ' God who made all things and created us came into the world 
in the form and fashion of a man. Why did he thus come into the world? 
Think of this !' He paused, and then answered, ' God took upon him flesh 
and blood in order that, as man, he might reconcile the world unto himself. 
By his bitter death on the cross he procured for us life and eternal salvation, 
redeeming us from sin, from death, and from the power of the devil." In such 
apothegms he unfolded the whole gospel. When he ceased, Zeisberger, who 
had in the mean time entered, briefly corroborated his words, and exhorted 
Glik-kik-an to lay them to heart. 

" ' Glik-kik-an,' says De Schweinitz, ' was an honest man and open to 
conviction. He had upheld the superstitions of his fathers because he had 
not been convinced that the Christian faith was true.' But now the truth 
began to dawn upon his mind. In the place of his elaborate speech he merely 
replied, 'I have nothing to say; I believe your words.' And when he re- 
turned to Gosch-gosch-kunk, instead of boasting of a victory over the teachers, 
he urged the people to go and hear the gospel. He had been hired, like 
Balaam, to curse God's own, but, like Balaam, he was constrained to bless 
them. Not long after this first visit of the warrior of the Mahoning, Zeis- 
berger was constrained to go to Fort Pitt (Pittsburg) to obtain provisions. 

26s 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Senseman accompanied him, and they were instrumental in saving the country 
from the horrors of another war. 

"They passed Fort Venango (Franklin) on their return. Soon after 
this they received a second visit from Glik-kik-an. He came to tell them 
that he had determined to embrace Christianity, and he brought an invita- 
tion from Pack-an-ke to settle on the banks of the Beaver, on a tract of 
land which should be reserved for the exclusive use of the mission. Zeis- 
berger saw the advantages of the offer, but not feeling authorized to accept 
it without consent of the board at Bethlehem, he sent two runners to that 
town in Northampton county, for instructions. The board gave him plenary 
power, and he accepted the offer of a home in our beautiful valley. It took 
time, however, for the runners to go and come through that vast stretch of 
wilderness, and the migration was not effected until the next April. 

" But before they left the oil region the Lord cheered them with some 
fruits of their toil. Early in December, 1769, the first Protestant baptism in 
the valley of the Allegheny took place at Lawunakhannek. Luke and Paulina 
were then baptized ; and Allemewi at Christmas ; and in the beginning of 
1770 several other converts were added. 

" On the 17th day of April, 1770, after a friendly parting with Wango- 
men and their other opponents, who now began to regret their removal, 
Zeisberger, Sensemen, and their families with the Christian Indians, left 
Lawunakhannek in fifteen canoes. Thev swept past Gosch-gosch-kunk and 
bore down the Allegheny, and reached Fort Pitt on the 20th of April. 

" It was a novel sight presented to the traders and the garrison at that 
point, to see a colony of Protestant Christian Indians, who from savages had 
been transformed into mild and consistent followers of Jesus. 

" Leaving Fort Pitt, they descended the Ohio to the mouth of the Beaver. 
That now populous locality was then a deep solitude. Not even a wigwam 
was to be seen where Beaver, Rochester, New Brighton, Bridgewater, Falls- 
ton, and Beaver Falls now throng with population. 

"Ascending the Beaver, they carry their canoes and goods around the 
falls, and arrive at a town on the west bank of that river a little north of 
where Newport now stands. This Indian town was inhabited by a community 
of women, all single, and all pledged never to marry. An uncloistered nun- 
nery ! I do not wonder that Indian women, who were doomed to do the 
drudgery of the family, both in the wigwam and the cornfield, should resolve 
to lead a life of single-blessedness. It is less excusable in civilized society, 
in which Christianity has emancipated woman from such hardships. 

"A little more than a mile above this town of maidens, on the east bank 
of the Beaver, and below the afflux of the Mahoning, they found a broad 
plain, or bottom-land, as we would call it, upon which they made an encamp- 
ment, putting up log huts. 

" ' The first business,' says De Schweinitz, ' undertaken was an embassy 

266 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

to Pack-an-ke, whose capital stood near, or, perhaps, upon the site of New 
Castle, and was called New Kas-kas-kunk. Old Kas-kas-kunk, the former 
capital, was at the confluence of the Shenango and Mahoning Rivers. 

' Pack-an-ke, a venerable, gray-haired chief, but active as in youth, 
received the deputation at his own house. 

" ' In response to the speeches of Abram (a converted Indian) and Zeis- 
berger, he said they were welcome to his country, and should be undisturbed 
in the worship of their God. 

' ' A great feast was in preparation. Indians were flocking in in great 
numbers. Native etiquette required that the deputies should grace the occa- 
sion with their presence ; but after Abram 's exposition of their views, Pack- 
an-ke made no attempt to detain them. 

' Thus one hundred and six years ago, on this soil, and probably about 
the place where our Second Ward school-house (New Castle) now stands, 
was exhibited by a pagan savage chief, or king, a measure of hospitality and 
religious toleration, such as nominally Christian Rome denies, and such as 
even Protestant Christians are slow to extend to their fellow-men.' 

" A village of cabins was soon built upon the site of the encampment, to 
which Zeisberger gave the name of Langunton-temunk in the Delaware 
language; in German, Friedenstadt ; and in English, City of Peace. It soon 
began to attract the Indians. Some Munseys from Gosch-gosch-kunk were 
the first to come and join the mission ; soon after, Glik-kik-kan from Kas- 
kas-kunk. He was the first convert to Christianity in the valley of the 
Shenango. 

" Zeisberger had warned this brave warrior that persecution would 
follow his embracing Christianity, but it did not deter him. King Pack-an-ke 
reproached him. ' And have you gone to the Christian teachers from our 
very councils?' said he. 'What do you want of them? Do you hope to get 
a white skin ? Not so much as one of your feet would turn white. How 
then can your whole skin be changed ? Were you not a brave man ? Were 
you not an honorable counsellor? Did you not sit at my side in this house, 
with a blanket before you, and a pile of wampum belts upon it, and help me 
to direct the affairs of our nation ? And now you despise all this ! You 
think you have found something better ! Wait ! in good time you will see 
how miserably you have been deceived !' 

" To this burst of passion Glik-kik-kan replied, ' You are right ; I have 
joined the brethren. Where they go, I will go ; where they lodge, I will 
lodge ; nothing shall separate me from them : their people shall be my people, 
and their God, my God.' Attending church a few days after this, a sermon 
on the heinousness of sin so moved him that he walked through the village 
to his tent sobbing aloud. 'A haughty war-captain,' wrote Zeisberger, ' weeps 
publicly in the presence of his former associates. This is marvellous. Thus 
the Saviour, by his word, breaks the hard hearts and humbles the proud minds 
of the Indians.' 

267 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" Finding their locality, which was on or near the present site of the 
hamlet of Moravia, too low and unhealthy, Zeisberger, toward the end of July, 
laid out a new and larger town, with a church on a hill, on the west side of 
the river opposite the first. This town was located on the ridge to the west 
of the railroad, and extending north from the Spring run this side (north) 
of Moravia station. Thus one hundred and six years ago, this month (July, 
1876), was founded the first Christian village and community in this beau- 
tiful valley — yes, the first west of the Allegheny Mountains ! We cannot 
pursue the details of its history farther in this discourse except to say that 
upon that spot, consecrated by the prayers and tears and the toils of David 
Zeisberger, John Senseman, George Youngman, and their wives, and of Abra- 
ham, Glik-kik-kan, and other red men who had given their hearts to Jesus, a 
Christian town of five hundred souls grew rapidly up. The number of con- 
verts increased until, before they migrated to the Tuscarawas, it reached two 
hundred. The town and church were built of hewn logs, and were occupied 
by an industrious and orderly community. It continued to prosper until, from 
various considerations, they were induced to emigrate to the valley of the 
Muskingum, in what is now the State of Ohio. 

" The considerations which led to this change grew out of various circum- 
stances ; partly from the necessity of the removal of the Christian Indians on 
the Susquehanna to a place where they would be more exempt from the 
encroachments of the white settlers, and partly from untoward influences 
gathering round them in this vicinity. 

" Traders had early established posts along the Allegheny and Ohio. 
Whiskey was introduced by them, and habits of intemperance grew rapidly 
among the pagan Indians. It not unfrequently happened that the wild 
Indians, when drunk, would come to the peaceable Christian town, and whoop 
and shriek along the streets, insult the women, and sometimes disturb even 
the meetings for worship. Thus early were the atrocities that inevitably 
spring from the rum-traffic perpetrated in our loved valley, and down to the 
present day those atrocities have never ceased. 

" Early in the spring of 1772, accompanied by Glik-kik-an and several 
others of the Indians, Zeisberger proceeded to the Tuscarawas to announce 
the coming of the Susquehanna Indians, and prepare for their reception. The 
work still went on at Friedenstadt until the spring of 1773, when the mis- 
sionaries and their Christian Indians took a sad farewell of their beautiful 
home on the banks of the Beaver; levelled their beautiful sanctuary with the 
ground, to prevent its desecration, and bent their faces toward the banks of 
the Tuscarawas, where, at the beautiful locality of the ' Big Spring,' a few 
miles from it, they built two towns, — Gnattenhutten and Schoenbrun,- — in 
which they lived happily and labored faithfully for Christ, until the wars came 
on which resulted in so many disasters and so much bloodshed, and they were 
cruellv murdered, Glik-kik-an among them, by a body of frontiersmen from 

268 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Washington and Green Counties, Pennsylvania, and from West Virginia, 
under the command of Colonel David Williamson. These men had marched 
to avenge some atrocious murders which had been committed by wild Indians 
in those counties, and, failing to discriminate between the harmless Moravian 
Indians and the real authors of the murders, they cruelly slaughtered nearly 
one hundred old men, women, and children ! It was a terrible tragedy, illus- 
trative of the fearful nature of unbridled and undiscriminating vengeance. 

" Although not directly connected with the history of our congregation, I 
have deemed it proper to give this brief and imperfect sketch of the interest- 
ing congregation of Christian Indians, which one hundred and six years ago 
was established in our immediate vicinity, and as our own was established 
near the same site, and once extended its borders almost, or quite, to Frieden- 
stadt (Moravia), it may be considered the first successor of that interesting 
congregation. 

" The tawny Delawares and Senecas and Shawnees still lingered along 
the banks of the Shenango and Neshannock for some years after this church 
was organized. After the decisive victory of General Wayne, in August, 
1794, a treaty was formed with the Indians, by which the peace of the border 
was for a time secured ; and, shortly after, white inhabitants began to cross 
the Ohio and Allegheny, and settle the country lying between those rivers 
and Lake Erie. Gradually the tide of population flowed north and west, and, 
by 1798, there was a considerable population scattered through what is now 
the counties of Beaver, Butler, Lawrence, Mercer, Venango, Crawford, and 
Erie. 

" As in the entire process of settling Pennsylvania, the sturdy and in- 
telligent Scotch-Irish race were the pioneers. They had at an early period 
settled in Bucks, Chester, Lancaster, and Cumberland Counties. They were 
the first to cross the Alleghenies and occupy the counties east of the Allegheny 
River and south of the Ohio; and when the broad, fertile, and forest-clad 
region north of that river was opened to them, they were prompt to enter it. 

" An herculean task lay before them. A massive forest was to fell, fields 
were to clear and reclaim, and bread was to be wrung from the soil — rich, 
indeed, but rugged and untamed. But the very hardships of their condition 
developed energy and self-reliance. Trained in their former homes in the 
Bible and the Shorter Catechism, and most of them in the Psalms of David, 
they brought with them a piety, if rude, yet sturdy and sincere. They made 
their cabins and the surrounding forest vocal with their voice of unsophisti- 
cated praise and prayer. Loving the preached gospel, and reverencing the 
ministers whom they left behind in the older settlements, they had a natural 
desire to receive visits from them, and, at their request, some of the godly 
pastors from over the rivers made occasional visits. The venerable Elisha 
McCurdy and Thomas Marquis were the first ministers of our order who 
traversed the hills and valleys, gathering the scattered settlers in little assem- 

269 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

lilies to worship Cod and hear the precious gospel. They went as far north 
as Erie Comity, and visited many settlements, dispensing the word and ordi- 
nances. It is impossible in our day to appreciate the difficulties of such mis- 
sionary tours. There was not a bridge from the t )hio to the lake, over any 
stream. The creeks were often swollen so that they were compelled to swim 
their horses across the angry current: and sometimes even this was im- 
practicable, and the missionary would be prevented by such insurmountable 
obstacles from fulfilling his appointment." 

Among the first ministers of the gospel who visited this region, some 
of whom remained permanently, was Thomas Edgar Hughes, who settled 
at Greensburg, now called Darlington. He was a man of mark, and the 
first settled pastor north of the Ohio, lie was of Welch origin, his grand- 
father having come from Wales, lie was born in York County, Pennsyl- 
vania. April 7, 1769. Licensed by the Presbytery of Ohio, now Pittsburg, in 
1708. he was ordained and installed over the churches of Xew Salem and 
Mount Pleasant. August 28. (796. 

Soon after he was joined by two other ministers from the Reformed 
Presbyterian church of Ireland. 

A Presbytery was formed in 1774. and the church, as a body, obtained 
a foothold in the Xew World. The subject of union between these bodies 
was agitated before either was many years old. the leading ministers be- 
lieving that such an alliance would add to the efficiency of both. During the 
Revolutionary War several meetings of ministers of the two denominations 
were held, at which the matter was thoroughly discussed. In 1782 three 
Presbyteries met in Philadelphia, and a union was consummated. The new 
organization took the name of the "Associate Reformed Synod of North 
America." A few of the ministers of both bodies refused to enter into the 
alliance, and the original bodies maintained a separate existence. 

The Associate Reformed Church flourished. It spread rapidly to the 
westward, and was largely and steadily increased by immigration. In 1703 
it had a firm hold on the territory now known as Western Pennsylvania. In 
that year the original Presbytery of Pennsylvania was divided into two. — the 
First and Second Associate Reformed Presbyteries of Pennsylvania. The 
Second, by order of the Synod, took the name of the Monongahela. It was 
composed of four ministers. — Revs. John Jamieson, Henderson, Warwick, and 
Rankin, with their elders. This was the first Presbytery organized in con- 
nection with any of the Reformed Churches west of the Allegheny Mountains. 
Its boundary lines were the Allegheny Mountains on the east and the Pacific 
i Vean on the west. 

The prosperity of the new body in Western Pennsylvania was remark- 
able. Soon it became necessary to form new Presbyteries in the territory 
originally covered by the Presbytery of the Monongahela, and the church 
commanded the attention of the entire country. 

-TO 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

A union of the Associate with the Associate Reformed Churches of North 
America had been for a long time considered desirable by the leading min- 
isters of both denominations, and it was accomplished in 1858. The con- 
summation took place in Old City Hall, Pittsburg, and was the occasion of 
general rejoicing among the ministers and members of both bodies. It was 
in this city of ecclesiastical reunions that the United Presbyterian Church as 
a distinct Presbyterian body was born. 

I give a sketch of one of these ministers, written by myself for the 
United Presbyterian, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania: 

" Rev. John Jamieson was born in Thornhill farm, Scotland, about eight 
miles south of Glasgow, in 1747. His father was Allan Jamieson, a descend- 
ant from the noble family of Bruce. One of Allan Jamieson's ancestors was 
steward to Mary, Queen of Scotland. This ancestry turned Protestant, left 
the court, and returned to Thornhill farm. Rev. John Jamieson's mother, 
according to the family tradition, was a descendant of Sir William Wallace, 
who left a natural daughter. 

" Rev. John Jamieson enjoyed the advantages of wealth. He graduated 
from St. Andrew's University, and studied theology with Rev. John Brown. 
of Haddington, who formulated the Westminster Catechism. Rev. John 
Jamieson was licensed and ordained by a Burgher presbytery, of Scotland, in 
about his twenty-fifth year. He preached from the Hebrew or Greek Bible, 
translated his own texts, and was an expert shorthand writer. According to 
his diary, he preached at Bathgate, Scotland, in 1776. Rev. John Jamieson's 
early life embraced a stormy period in Scotland between the Scotch and Eng- 
lish. His adult life was surrounded by a period of literary activity. The 
poems of Ramsay, Thompson, Burns, Scott, Holmes, and others were written 
and published from 1730 to 1785. The known Scottish poets then exceeded 
two thousand. In 1775 Rev. John Jamieson married Agnes ("Nancy) Gibbs, 
daughter of John Gibbs, of Paisley. Gibbs's wife was a Miss Jackson. The 
young couple set up housekeeping in Edinburgh, Scotland, where they re- 
sided seven years. Three children were born to them in this city, — viz.. 
Jeannette, John, and Agnes, otherwise called Nancy. Rev. John Jamieson, 
considering himself prepared for thorough gospel labor, determined to migrate 
to America and devote his life to missionary work in the New World. On 
August 27, 1783, he sold the Thornhill farm to a Mr. Wilson. It might be 
well to state here that Pollock, author of " The Course of Time," was born 
on the adjoining farm, and that these two farms are now literally covered 
with houses and form a part of greater Glasgow. At the age of thirty-six, 
with his wife and three children. Rev. John Jamieson started from Edin- 
burgh, Scotland, for America, and in the latter part of November, 1783, landed 
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he immediately connected himself with 
the Associate Reformed Church. 

" He resided here and went on missionary journeys through the wilder- 

271 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

ness on horseback as far south and west as the Carolinas and Georgia, until 
September 22, 1784, when he located at Big Spring, Cumberland County, 
Pennsylvania, at which place he preached in a log church for eight years, also 
at Stony Ridge, Shippensburg, Marsh Creek, Conococheague, and other 
points, in barns and houses. He also purchased six hundred acres of land 
and erected a grist-mill at or near Big Spring, and his son John, Jr., resided 
here until after 1809. 

" Three children were born to Mr. Jamieson while living at Big Spring, 
—viz., William, Isabelle, and Margaret. 

" In the early spring of 1792 Mr. Jamieson resigned his charges in Cum- 
berland County and crossed the Allegheny Mountains with his wife and three 
children, with their effects all on horseback, or pack-horses, and located in 
Hannahstown, Westmoreland County, leaving John Jamieson, Jr., and two 
other children on the homestead at Big Spring. In 1794 he removed to 
Derry, and in 1796 to Altman's Run, where he erected his log cabin in what 
is now Conemaugh or Blacklick Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania. 

" In the year 1792 he and Rev. Matthew Henderson, Sr., were appointed 
by the synod to missionate in Virginia and Kentucky for one year. In 1794 
he dropped Hannahstown and made frequent missionary tours through what 
is now Indiana and Armstrong Counties, and was the first pastor to have a 
charge north of the Conemaugh River and west of Blacklick in Indiana and 
Armstrong Counties. In 1793 the second presbytery of Pennsylvania was 
formed, and at a later time by order of the synod was called ' Monongahela.' 

" This presbytery was composed of four ministers, — viz., Rev. John 
Jamieson, Rev. Matthew Henderson, Sr., Rev. Robert Warwick, and Rev. 
Adam Rankin, with their elders. Its boundary lines were the Allegheny 
Mountains on the east, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Rev. John Jamie- 
son's pioneer preaching in Western Pennsylvania was at the installation of 
Rev. Robert Warwick at Laurel Hill, Dunlap's Creek, and Spring Hill. These 
points are in Westmoreland and Fayette Counties. 

" In 1794 Rev. Tohn Jamieson organized the Crete church, in Indiana 
County, preaching to the people first from a small platform, five by eight 
feet, supported by wooden brackets between two large oak-trees, the congre- 
gation, of course, being seated on logs on the ground. His mode of preach- 
ing was to lecture or expound the Scripture in the morning, and to preach 
a sermon divided into firstly, secondly, etc., in the afternoon. At Crete a 
tent was secured for a while, and then, in 181 5, a log church, twenty- four 
bv thirtv, was erected. He preached at this point until near 1820. From 
his diarv I find that he also preached at Conemaugh, Crooked Creek, Bethel 
(Indiana County"), Plum Creek, and Kittanning, and that he held services in 
cabins and log barns. The names of these places, dates, etc., are recorded in 
his diary, as well as notes of texts and sermons, many of these in shorthand. 

" In 1790 the Presbytery of Pennsylvania was directed to deal with him 

272 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

[Rev. John Jamieson] for not attending synod. In 1791 he was present, but 
was disgusted, as he tells us in his published account of his subsequent trial, 
so that he resolved to terminate his connection with the body. This threat 
he did not carry out, although he soon afterwards resigned his charge at Big 
Spring. Having finished his mission to Kentucky, he arrived during the 
winter of 1792-93, in Western Pennsylvania, and was very soon settled in 
Brush Creek, now Bethel, Westmoreland County, Hannahstown, near the 
present New Alexandria, and Conemaugh, Indiana County. He was released 
from Brush Creek and also from Hannahstown (which he had informally 
dropped), and his time was given to Loyalhanna in connection with Cone- 
maugh, but he continued to visit and preach to groups of families in a very 
large district. In May, 1794, he attended the meeting of the synod at Marsh 
Creek, Adams County, Pennsylvania. It was the custom of the synod then 
to make the next minister in seniority the moderator, and it happened to be 
Mr. Jamieson's turn. He took the chair, protesting, however, that he would 
not stay there long. 

" At an early stage of the meeting he presented ' An Overture' for the 
consideration and adoption of the synod. This overture maintained that a 
strict and rigid uniformity in all things was essential to the government and 
discipline of the Church; and that the synod should adopt a confession and 
covenant to secure such uniformity in praise, public and private, in the admin- 
istration of the Supper, in the solemnization of marriage, etc. The language 
of the overture was by no means soft and persuasive, and its personal thrusts 
were well understood. After debate, more plain than courteous, the overture 
found no friend but its author, and was emphatically rejected. Mr. Jamieson 
immediately left the chair, protesting that he could not preside over any body 
that would thus ignore ' the attainments' of the Church in Reformation days. 
Another moderator was elected, although Mr.- Jamieson retained his seat in 
synod, and thus avoided the obligation of signing as moderator the minutes 
of a backsliding synod. He returned home filled with great indignation, and 
in his published defence takes great credit to himself that it was not until 
the second Sabbath after his arrival home that he commenced his public con- 
demnation and protest. By his own confession he spared neither synod as 
a whole, nor the leading members individually ; and he spoke equally severely 
of the Red Stone Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church, in the midst of 
which he lived. Complaint was made to synod in 1795 of his course by 
William Findley, one of his elders ; and Messrs. Dobbins and Young were 
appointed a committee to go west and help the second Presbytery of Penn- 
sylvania investigate these charges, together with other charges of heretical 
teaching. This was done in the autumn of the same year, and resulted in 
the tabling of a libel containing eleven specifications. This libel and all the 
testimony relating thereto was referred to the next synod. The gravamen 
of the whole may be reduced to two points, — viz., a false and injurious abuse 
18 273 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

of the synod and particularly of Dr. Annan and of John M. Mason, ' who 
inherited his father's odiousness, and error in doctrine in reference to faith 
and the offer of the gospel to the reprobate.' There was no difficulty in the 
matter of proof, for he admitted that he had denounced the unfaithfulness of 
synod, because it ' made an act allowing or approving the singing of Watts's 
Psalms, Sternold and Hopkins, or anything that families pleased in family 
worship,' and that it did so at Dr. Annan's dictation, because Mr. Nourse, 
his wealthiest member and elder, claimed this privilege; also another act 
setting aside the fast-days and thanksgiving days usually observed in con- 
nection with the Lord's Supper ; and that this was to favor the rich merchants 
in Dr. Mason's charge ; and finally that they were about setting aside the 
publication of the banns of marriage, so that the clergy might not lose their 
marriage fees ; ' that thus the worship, government, and discipline of the 
Church are nearly given up for a price or a loaf of bread.' 

" Rev. John Jamieson ' was found guilty by synod at its meeting in 
1796,' and ' suspended from the office of the ministry and prohibited from 
teaching students of divinity until next meeting of synod.' At the next meet- 
ing, in 1797, he refused to give any satisfaction, but read a protest, declined 
the authority of the synod, and withdrew. Synod forthwith deposed and 
excommunicated him, and this action was never reversed or modified. A 
large portion of his church at Hannahstown joined with him in his declina- 
ture, and he continued to minister to them ' for a season,' — viz., nine years, 
or until 1805. 

" Mr. Jamieson was a man of decided abilities, and of some theological 
attainments ; so that his presbytery placed their theological students under 
his care, and Alexander Porter, Alexander McCoy, and David Proudfit were 
at this time pursuing their studies with him." — Big Spring Church History. 
" Nothing daunted, the Rev. John Jamieson wrote a book defending his 
views and the old-time customs of his Church. Also he continued to preach 
as an independent till near the day of his death. The country being new, 
he preached from settlement to settlement. For roads he had forest paths ; 
bridges there were none, and in devotion to duty he braved alike the beasts 
of the forest, the summer's heat, and the winter's cold. Truly his was the 
'voice of one crying in the wilderness;' in the wilderness, crying almost 
daily somewhere for thirty-six years, either in the open air, in the cabin, in 
the woods, in the log barn, or in the log church. 

" From 1783 to at least 1816 he went about his Master's business. Money 
he did not need, for every cabin door was opened wide to him, while his 
wife and family were busy at his own cabin raising food, scutching, spinning, 
weaving, knitting, and making the family home-spun clothing. 

" Of the twenty-six religious bodies in Pennsylvania that Rev. John 
Jamieson organized through his personality, twenty-four of them are to-day 
strong, wealthy United Presbyterian churches, and are under the jurisdiction 

274 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

of one of the following presbyteries, — viz.. Big Spring, Westmoreland, Cone- 
maugh, or Monongahela. Of the two remaining organizations, one is a Cove- 
nanter church at Alexandria, Westmoreland County, and the other is the 
Covenanter church at Clarksburg, Indiana County. 

" Rev. John Jamieson was six feet three inches high, and dignified in 
bearing. Mentally he was able, thoroughly educated, and possessed won- 
derful vigor, energy, and endurance. His voice was strong, clear, and far 
reaching; his oratory magnetic, holding the attention of his hearers as well 
through a long service as a short one. He was courteous, imperious, self- 
willed, quick-tempered, ultra-conservative, and hyper-Calvinistic. 

" Although by inheritance possessing considerable wealth, he gave him- 
self incessantly to ministerial duties. By his commanding presence, by his 
ingenuous and fearless honesty, and by his ability, he became the leader gen- 
erally of all clear-headed and honest people in the fields of labor ; and was 
dreaded by all dishonest and time-serving persons whether in business, church, 
or state. He was characterized by his abhorrence of all shams and carnal 
policy, and by morality and kindness to the poor. He was frugal and tem- 
perate. He labored for the good of the community. He was a prominent 
leader in the formation of Indiana County. To aid in the civil interests of 
Indiana County, he contracted for the erection of the first county jail. 

" He served as county commissioner for Indiana County for the years 
1809, 1810, and 181 1. He was actively engaged in educational matters, and 
was one of the pioneer trustees for the Indiana Academy, incorporated March 
28, 1814. I find in his diary that he was actively and regularly preaching in 
and around Kittanning from 1813 to January 8, 1815 ; in Freeport region, in 
1813-14; and what is now West Union, and in Conemaugh, Plumville, and 
Crete, up to 1816. His services in these years were held in cabins and barns 
and log churches. His pioneer home farm in Conemaugh Township, Indiana 
County, was first assessed to him in Indiana County, in 1805, along with two 
horses and three cows, valued at seven hundred and fifty-nine dollars. This 
homestead of two hundred and seventy-six acres continued to be occupied by 
and assessed to him until 1818, when he removed to within a mile of Crete, 
where he lived until he died, March 12, 1821, at the age of seventy-four vears, 
and was buried at Crete church, Indiana County, Pennsylvania. His Cone- 
maugh property, after 1818, became the Archibald Coleman homestead, and 
is now owned by William Irwin and occupied by a tenant.' - 

THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 

This church originated in a religious camp-meeting held in Kentucky 
and Tennessee in 1801-03. In 1810 these religious enthusiasts organized 
themselves into a distinct and separate body. In i860 they had seventeen 
synods, forty-eight presbyteries, one thousand churches, three hundred min- 
isters, and one hundred thousand members. 

27s 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

nil PRESBYTERIAN WAS THE PIONEER CHURCH IN THIS WILDERNESS 

Che pioneer Presbyterian preaching' in America was in Philadelphia, in 
1698. In 1704 they erected a frame church on Market Street, and called it 
Buttonwoocl, The pioneer presbytery was in Philadelphia about the year 
1705. In 1710 the pioneer synod was held, with the representation of twenty- 
live churches. In \yjQ the Westminster Confession and Catechisms were 
formally adopted. In 1741 a schism on educational questions took place, but 
was healed in 1758. The first General Assembly met in 1789. and the con- 
fession and catechisms were again adopted, with some slight changes. 

Presbyterianism, David's Psalms, and the Catechism was the pioneer 
service and creed in all this wilderness. The usual salarv of a minister in 
pioneer days was four hundred dollars a year for full time. This was gen- 
erally divided among two or more churches. 

PIONEER BAPTIST CHURCH IX X OK L~U WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA, I780-1S5O 

" In most of the colonies the Baptists were persecuted. In Rhode Island 
they were especially numerous. They had much to do with that agitation 
for religious liberty which culminated in the passage of the first amendment 
to the Constitution of the United States. In 1702 there were fifty-six Bap- 
tist churches in the region now occupied by the United States; in 1792, 1000: 
in 1812. 2433; in 1832, 5322; in 1852, 0500." 

The pioneer Baptist preaching in Pennsylvania was at Cold Spring, 
Bucks County, in 1084. by Rev. Thomas Dungan. This church died in 1702. 

The pioneer Baptist preacher to have services in what is now Cameron, 
Elk. Forest, and Jefferson Counties was the Rev. Jonathan Nichols, who 
settled on the Turlev farm, above Weedville. in 1817. then Clearfield County. 
In 1821 he moved to Brandycamp, now Elk County. As a clergyman his 
ministrations were generally well accepted, and his meetings were as well 
attended as could be in a country so sparsely settled : people frequently went 
six or eight miles to meeting. In the winter their carriages were sleds drawn 
by oxen : in the summer men. women, and children could walk nine or ten 
miles and home again the same day. Rev. Jonathan Nichols was a regu- 
larly ordained Baptist minister, and an educated physician. He migrated to 
what is now Elk County from Connecticut. He died in 1846, aged seventy- 
one years. His wife Hannah died in 1850. aged eighty-two years. His home 
was the late P. B. Little farm on Brandycamp. As a physician his labors 
were extended, and his ministry was well received by the scattered people 
of all beliefs. For a while he clung to the close communion, but. owing 
to the different beliefs adhered to by his hearers, he. after a few years, invited 
all Christian people who attended his services to the "' Lord's table." His 
daughter told me his heart would not let him do otherwise. One who knew 
him well wrote of him : " He was a generous, kind-hearted gentleman, genial 
and urbane in his manners, with a helping hand ready to assist the needy. 

276 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

and had kind words to comfort the sorrowing." Winter's snow never de- 
terred him from pastoral work or visits to the sick. 

PIONEER ORGANIZATION OF THE CLARION BAPTIST ASSOCIATION, HELD AT 
BROOKVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA, JUNE I AND 2, 1 838 

On Friday, June i, 1838, pursuant to adjournment, the Association con- 
vened in Brookville, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania. Rev. Thomas Wilson 
preached the introductory sermon, from Job thirty-third chapter and twenty- 
fourth verse. The moderator and clerk of the preparatory meeting of 1837 
took their seats, and, after prayer by Rev. Samuel D. Morris, of Brookville, 
the letters from churches were read, and the names of the ministers and 
messengers present were enrolled. Each church was entitled to four mes- 
sengers. 

The following churches were represented : Zion church, Armstrong 
County (constituted June 21, 1821), by Rev. Thomas E. Thomas and Rev. 
S. Messenger, ordained ministers ; messengers, or lay delegates, Amos Wil- 
liams, William Corbet, and William Frampton ; post-office, Strattonville, 
Pennsylvania. Red Bank church, Armstrong County (constituted May, 
1837), by Rev. Thomas Wilson, ordained minister; messengers, I. Moor- 
head, T. Buzard, J. Putney; post-office, Red Bank, Pennsylvania. Ma- 
honing church, Indiana County (constituted April, 1830), by Rev. Thomas 
Wilson, ordained minister; messengers, Jacob 'Keel, Thompson Hays; 
post-office, Smicksburg, Pennsylvania. Brookville church, Jefferson County 
(constituted May, 1837), Dv R ev - Samuel D. Morris, licensed minister; 
messengers, Michael Troy, James M. Craig, William Humphrey ; post-office, 
Brookville, Pennsylvania. Gethsemane church, now Aliens Mills, Jefferson 
County (constituted June, 1834), by Rev. Samuel Miles, ordained minister; 
messenger, G. Wilson ; post-office, Brookville, Pennsylvania. Curwensville 
church, Clearfield County (constituted August, 1836), by no minister: mes- 
senger, N. Lawhead ; post-office, Curwensville, Pennsylvania. 

Brother Amos Williams was then chosen moderator, and Samuel D. 
Morris, of Brookville, clerk. Brothers Miles, Wilson, Williams, and Morris 
were appointed a committee to arrange the business and preaching for this 
session. 

The Association was called Clarion, I suppose because " Clarion" means 
" a trumpet of a clear, shrill tone." Clarion County was not formed until 
March 11, 1839. 

A constitution for the Association was adopted, Articles of Faith an- 
nounced and promulgated, and Rules of Decorum for the Association adopted, 
" and to be read at the opening of every session and left on the table for the 
perusal of the members." It was further agreed, that " the next meeting of 
the Association be held with Zion church, Armstrong (now Clarion) County, 
on Friday preceding the first Lord's day in October, 1839," Rev. Samuel 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Miles to preach the introductory sermon at that time, and Rev. Thomas 
Wilson to write the circular letter. 

The following sums were received for printing minutes. — viz., Zion 
church, two dollars and fifty cents ; Red Bank church, one dollar and fifty 
cents ; Mahoning church, one dollar and seventy-five cents ; Brookville 
church, one dollar ; Gethsemane, one dollar and fifty cents ; and Curwens- 
ville, one dollar. William Frampton was appointed treasurer ; William King, 
Jr., to be stated clerk for the Association, post-office, Greenville, Armstrong 
County, Pennsylvania (now Limestone, Clarion County, Pennsylvania). 
Brother James M. Craig was authorized to have three hundred copies of 
the minutes printed, and to distribute them. Several resolutions in regard to 
missionary work, religious periodicals, etc., were read and adopted. 

PIONEER LUTHERAN EVANGELICAL CHURCH IN NORTHWESTERN PENNSYL- 
VANIA, 1780-185O 

The pioneer Lutheran preaching in North America was in what is now 
New York (then New Amsterdam), in 1624. This service had to be held in 
a private house, and, as there was no religious liberty in that colony then, some 
of these early Lutherans who attended this service were imprisoned, and the 
pastor sent back to Holland. In 1638 a colony of Swedes settled at what is 
now Wilmington, Delaware. They erected a fort, called it Christina, and 
in the chapel of that fort celebrated their religious services in 1639, the Rev. 
Reorus Torkillus being the pastor. It was not, however, until 1742 that the 
church was really organized in America. On September 25, 1742, the Rev. 
Henry Melchior Muhlenberg located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as a 
missionary, and commenced his work. He is considered the patriarch of the 
church in North America. The pioneer synod was held in Philadelphia in 
1748. 

PIONEER METHODISM 

" This denomination first assumed its present name at the conference 
held in 1784. Previous to that time the scattered followers of this belief 
had met in societies, like those established in Great Britain by Rev. John 
Wesley. At the same conference the church was organized for missionary 
and pioneer work under charge of bishops sent to this country by Mr. Wesley, 
who was recognized as the spiritual father of the denomination. Its success 
during the next few years was remarkable. The zeal and energy of its 
preachers and the work of the lay members brought about within sixteen 
Years an increase of membership and preachers almost fourfold. This church 
was the first officially to acknowledge the United States Constitution, and 
was very active in every antislavery movement. The first session of its Gen- 
eral Conference was held in 1702. at which time the membership was about 
one hundred and ninety-five thousand. In 1843 tne abolitionist party in the 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

church withdrew in dissatisfaction and founded the Wesleyan Methodist con- 
nection. Two years later the Southern Methodists, dissatisfied in their turn, 
separated and formed the Methodist Episcopal Church South." — Dictionary 
United States History. 

On March 7, 1736, John Wesley preached the pioneer Methodist sermon 
in America, in Savannah, Georgia. Another early Methodist service in 
the United States was conducted in New York city by a Mr. Embury, aided 
and assisted by Barbara Heck. Barbara Heck emigrated from Ireland to 
New York in 1765. From her zeal, activity, and pious work as a Christian 
she is called the mother of American Methodism. Methodism was intro- 
duced into Pennsylvania in 1767 by Captain Thomas Webb, a soldier in the 
British army. Web was a preacher, and is called the apostle of American 
Methodism. In 1767 he visited Philadelphia, preached, and formed a class 
of seven persons. The first Annual Conferences of the Methodist Church 
held in America were in Philadelphia, — viz., in the years 1773, 1774, and 1775. 
After this year all Conferences were held in Baltimore, Maryland, until the 
organization of the Church in the New World. 

The pioneer Methodist preaching in Pennsylvania was in Philadelphia, 
in a sail-loft near Second and Dock Streets. St. John's Church was established 
in 1769. Methodism was to be found in Philadelphia in 1772, York in 1781, 
Wilkesbarre in 1778, Williamsport in 1791, and in Pittsburg in 1801. 

The pioneer Sunday-school in the world was opened at Glencastle, in 
England, in 1781, by Robert Raikes. The idea was suggested to him by a 
young woman, who afterwards became Sophia Bradburn. This lady assisted 
him in the opening of the first school. The pioneer Sunday-schools were 
started in the New World in 1790 by an official ordinance of the Methodist 
Conference establishing Sunday-schools to instruct poor children, white and 
black : " Let persons be appointed by the bishops, elders, deacons, or preachers 
to teach (gratis) all that will attend and have a capacity to learn, from six 
o'clock in the morning till ten, and from two o'clock in the afternoon until 
six, when it does not interfere with public worship." 

The Methodist Church was really the first temperance organization in 
America. The general rules of the society prohibited the use of liquor as a 
beverage. Other modern temperance organizations are supposed to have 
their beginning about 181 1. But little was done after this period outside of 
the churches for about twenty-five years. 

Rev. William Watters was the pioneer American, itinerant, Methodist 
preacher. He was born in Baltimore County, Maryland, October 16, 1751. 

Until 1824 Western Pennsylvania, or " all west of the Susquehanna 
River, except the extreme northern part, was in the Baltimore Conference." 
In 1824 the Pittsburg Conference was organized, and our wilderness came 
under its jurisdiction. In 1833 the first Methodist paper under the authority 
of the church was started. It was in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and the paper 

279 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

is now called the Pittsburg Christian Advocate. In 1836 the Erie Con- 
ference was formed. 

Methodism in Northwestern Pennsylvania has been, first, in the Balti- 
more Conference ; second, in the Pittsburg Conference ; and is now in the 
Erie Conference. 

The Methodists were slow in making an inroad in the northwest. The 
ground had been occupied by other denominations, and a hostile and bitter 
prejudice existed against the new " sect." 

The pay of the pioneer Methodist ministers and preachers, and for their 
wives and children, was as follows : 

" 1S00. — ' 1. The annual salary of the travelling preachers shall be eighty 
dollars and their travelling expenses. 

" ' 2. The annual allowance of the wives of travelling preachers shall be 
eighty dollars. 

" ' 3. Each child of a travelling preacher shall be allowed sixteen dollars 
annually to the age of seven years, and twenty-four dollars annually from 
the age of seven to fourteen years ; nevertheless, this rule shall not apply to 
the children of preachers whose families are provided for by other means in 
their circuits respectively. 

" ' 4. The salary of the superannuated, worn-out, and supernumerary 
preachers shall be eighty dollars annually. 

1 ' 5. The annual allowance of the wives of superannuated, worn-out. 
and supernumerary preachers shall be eight}" dollars. 

" ' 6. The annual allowance of the widows of travelling, superannuated, 
worn-out, and supernumerary preachers shall be eighty dollars. 

" ' 7. The orphans of travelling, superannuated, worn-out, and super- 
numerary preachers shall be allowed by the Annual Conference, if possible, 
by such means as they can devise, sixteen dollars annually.' 

" 1804. — The following inserted in clause 3, before ' nevertheless' : ' and 
those preachers whose wives are dead shall be allowed for each child annually 
a sum sufficient to pay the board of such child or children during the above 
term of years.' 

" The following added at the close of the section : 

" ' 8. Local preachers shall be allowed a salary in certain cases as men- 
tioned.' 

" 1S16. — ' The allowance of all preachers and their wives raised to one 
hundred dollars.' 

"1824. — Under clause 2 (allowance to wives) it is added, 'But this 
provision shall jaot apply to the wives of those preachers who were single 
when the}' were received for trial, and marry under four years, until the 
expiration of said four years.' 

"1828. — The seventh clause (relating to orphans) was altered so as to 
read as follows : 

280 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" ' 7. The orphans of travelling, supernumerary, superannuated, and 
worn-out preachers shall be allowed by the Annual Conferences the same 
sums respectively which are allowed to the children of living preachers. 
And on the death of a preacher, leaving a child or children without so much 
of worldly goods as should be necessary to his or her or their support, the 
Annual Conference of which he was a member shall raise, in such manner 
as may be deemed best, a yearly sum for the subsistence and education of 
such orphan child or children, until he, she, or they shall have arrived at 
fourteen years of age, the amount of which yearly sum shall be fixed by the 
committee of the Conference at each session in advance.' 

" i8j2. — The following new clause was inserted : 

" ' 8. The more effectually to raise the amount necessary to meet the 
above-mentioned allowance, let there be made weekly class collections in 
all our societies where it is practicable ; and also for the support of missions 
and missionary schools under our care.' 

" 1836. — The regulation respecting those who marry ' under four years' 
was struck out, and bishops mentioned by name as standing on the same 
footing as other travelling preachers. Clauses 1, 2, 4, and 5 thrown into 
two, as follows : 

" ' 1. The annual allowance of the married travelling supernumerary, 
and superannuated preachers and the bishops shall be two hundred dollars 
and their travelling expenses. 

' ' 2. The annual allowance of the unmarried travelling, supernumerary, 
and superannuated preachers and the bishops shall be one hundred dollars 
and their travelling expenses.' 

" The pioneer members were prohibited from wearing ' needless orna- 
ments, such as rings, earrings, lace, necklace, and ruffles.' " — Strickland's 
History of Discipline. 

PIONEER AND EARLY CAMP-MEETINGS 

The pioneer .camp-meeting in this wilderness was held at Meadville, in 
the fall of 1826. 

The pioneer camp-meeting in the United States was held, between 1800 
and 1801, at Cane Ridge, in Kentucky. It was under the auspices of several 
different denominational ministers. The meeting was kept up day and night. 
It was supposed that there were in attendance during the meetings from 
twelve to twenty thousand people. Stands were erected through the woods, 
from which one, two, three, and four preachers would be addressing the 
thousands at the same time. It was at this place and from this time that 
our camp-meetings took their rise. 

Evans, the Shaker historian, who is strong in the gift of faith, tells us 
that " the subjects of this work were greatly exercised in dreams, visions, 
revelations, and the spirit of the prophecy. In these gifts of the Spirit they 

281 ' 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

saw and testified that the great day of God was at hand, that Christ was about 
to set up his kingdom on earth, and that this very work would terminate in 
the full manifestation of the latter day of glory." 

From another authority, endowed perhaps with less fervor but with more 
of common sense, we get a description of these " exercises," which has a 
familiar ring that seems to bring it very near home. " The people remained 
on the ground day and night, listening to the most exciting sermons, and 
engaging in a mode of worship which consisted in alternate crying, laughing, 
singing, and shouting, accompanied with gesticulations of a most extraor- 
dinary character. Often there would be an unusual outcry, some bursting 
forth into loud ejaculations of thanksgiving, others exhorting their careless 
friends to * turn to the Lord,' some struck with terror and hastening to escape, 
others trembling, weeping, and swooning away, till every appearance of life 
was gone and the extremities of the body assumed the coldness of a corpse. 
At one meeting not less than a thousand persons fell to the ground, apparently 
without sense or motion. It was common to see them shed tears plentifully 
about an hour before they fell. They were then seized with a general tremor, 
and sometimes they uttered one or two piercing shrieks in the moment of 
falling. This latter phenomenon was common to both sexes, to all ages, and 
to all sorts of characters. 

After a time these crazy performances in the sacred name of religion 
became so much a matter of course that they were regularly classified in 
categories as the rolls, the jerks, the barks, etc. The rolling exercise was 
effected by doubling themselves up, then rolling from one side to the other 
like a hoop, or in extending the body horizontally and rolling over and over 
in the filth like so many swine. The jerk consisted in violent spasms and 
twistings of every part of the body. Sometimes the head was twisted round 
so that the face was turned to the back, and the countenance so much dis- 
torted that not one of its features was to be recognized. When attacked by 
the jerks they sometimes hopped like frogs, and the face and limbs under- 
went the most hideous contortions. The bark consisted in throwing them- 
selves on all-fours, growling, showing their teeth, and barking like dogs. 
Sometimes a number of people crouching down in front of the minister con- 
tinued to bark as long as be preached. These last were supposed to be more 
especially endowed with the gifts of prophecy, dreams, rhapsodies, and visions 
of angels." 

Exactly when the pioneer camp-meeting was held in Jefferson County 
is unknown to me. Darius Carrier advertised one in the Jeffersonian as 
early as 1830, to be held near Summerville, The first one I remember was 
near Brookville. on the North Fork, on laud now owned by F. Swartzlander. 
Others were held near Roseville. and in Ferry Township and kindred points. 
The rowdy element attended these services, and there was usually a good 
deal of disturbance from whiskey and fights, which, of course, greatly annoyed 

382 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

the good people. The first " Dutch camp-meeting" was held in what is 
now Ringgold Township. In fact, these German meetings were only aban- 
doned a few years ago. I reproduce a " Dutch camp-meeting hymn" : 

" CAMP-MEETING HYMN 

" Satan and I we can't agree, 
Halleo, halleolujah ! 
For I hate him and he hates me, 
Halleo, halleolujah! 

" I do believe without a doubt, 
Halleo, halleolujah ! 
The Christian has a right to shout, 
Halleo. halleolujah ! 

" We'll whip the devil round the stump, 
Halleo, halleolujah! 
And hit him a kick at every jump, 
Halleo, halleolujah." 

The mode of conducting our wood-meetings was patterned after the 
original in Kentucky. The manner of worship and conversions were the 
same, and while a great deal of harsh criticism has been made against this 
mode of religious worship, there is one thing that must be admitted, — many 
bad, wicked persons were changed into good religious people. Pitch-pine 
fagots were burned at night to light the grounds. 

ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 

The pioneer Catholic service in Pennsylvania was in Philadelphia, in 
1780. The pioneer priest was either Polycarp Wickstead, or James Had- 
dock. The pioneer church erected in Pennsylvania was St. Joseph's, in 
Philadelphia. 




CHAPTER XIV 



PIONEER CIRCUIT COURTS PIONEER CIRCUIT JUDGES — PRESIDENT AND ASSO- 
CIATES — PIONEER BAR AND EARLY LAWYERS 

The first legislation creating a judiciary in this State was called the 
provincial act of March 22, 1722. This court was styled "The Court of 
Quarter Sessions of the Peace and Gaol Delivery." The Orphans' Court 
was established in 1713. The constitution of 1776 provided for the con- 
tinuance of these courts. By the constitution adopted in 1790 the judicial 
power of the State was vested in a Supreme Court, in a Court of Oyer and 
Terminer and General Jail Delivery, Common Pleas, Quarter Sessions, 
Orphans' Court, and Register Court for each county, and for justices of the 
peace for boroughs and townships. The early judges were appointed by the 
governor. 

In 1806, for the more convenient establishment of the Supreme Court, 
the State was made into two districts, — viz., the Eastern and Western. The 
salary of a county associate judge was one hundred and fifty dollars per year. 

Both the president judge of a district and the associate judges for a 
county were appointed in this State until 1850, when the State constitution 
was changed to make them elective. The term of the president judge ran 
ten years, but the term of the associates was for five. The president circuit 
judge's salary was sixteen hundred dollars a year and mileage. 

Pennsylvania has had four constitutions. The first one, September 28, 
1776. Under this constitution the General Assembly consisted of but one 
house. The members were elected yearly. The laws were called " Acts of 
Assembly." A new constitution was formed in 1790, when the Senate body 
of the Legislature was created. Under this constitution a free colored man 
could vote at any election in the State, hence all public notices were addressed 
to the freemen of the locality. 

The third revision was in 1838. Under this constitution the free colored 
man was denied his vote. All life offices were abolished. 

In 1838 the amended constitution as adopted limited the rights of any 
one man to serve in the office of governor to six years out of nine. Under the 
first constitution of 1790 the limit of service in this office was nine years out 
of twelve. It was customary then in Pennsylvania to publish laws and public 
documents in separate books, in English and German. The debates of the 
1838 convention were so published. 

284 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Up to 1840 the judges were all appointed by the governor with the 
advice and consent of the Senate. Supreme Court judges were appointed 
for fifteen years, district judges of the Court of Common Pleas were appointed 
for ten years, and the associate judges were appointed for five. 

The fourth revision was in 1873. One of the principal points in this 
constitution was to restrict local legislation, and under it the colored man 
was again given his right to vote. From 1843 to I 850 members of the 
Legislature received one dollar and fifty cents per day ; in 1850 their pay was 
increased to three dollars per day for one hundred days, and one dollar and 
fifty cents per day for every day after that in session. 

By an act of the General Assembly of April 13, 1791, the counties of 
Westmoreland, Fayette, Washington, and Allegheny constituted the Fifth 
Judicial District, and on March 26, 1804, Jefferson County was attached to 
Westmoreland for judicial purposes. On June 2, 1803, Samuel Roberts was 
commissioned President Judge for the Fifth Judicial District, by Governor 
McKean. This Samuel Roberts was Jefferson's pioneer territorial judge 
until March 10, 1806. Judge Roberts was an able jurist and a literary man 
of note. He compiled and published, in 181 7, a text- work on law, a digest 
of the British statutes, with notes and illustrations. Samuel Roberts was 
born in Philadelphia, September 10, 1761, and as judge he continued to 
preside in Allegheny County until his death, in 1820. 

By an act of Assembly of February, 24, 1806, the counties of Somerset, 
Cambria, Indiana, Armstrong, and Westmoreland were made into the Tenth 
Judicial District, and John Young, of Westmoreland, was commissioned Judge 
for that district March 1, 1806. 

By an act of Assembly of March 10, 1806, the county of Indiana was 
organized for judicial purposes, to take effect the first Monday in November, 
1806. 

By an act of Assembly of March 10, 1806, Jefferson County was annexed 
to the county of Indiana, and the authority of the county commissioners and 
other count)' officers of said Indiana County was extended over and within 
the county of Jefferson. Jefferson remained annexed to Indiana County 
until 1824, and for judicial purposes alone until, by act of Assembly, April 
2, 1830, to org-anize the provisional county of Jefferson for judicial purposes, 
it was stipulated in Section 2 that the county should be attached to and form 
part of the Fourth Judicial District, and that the president judge of the 
Fourth Judicial District, and the associates to be appointed, shall have like 
power as other counties, etc., on and after the first Monday in October, to do 
and perform all duties, etc. Hon. Thomas Burnside, of Bellefonte, Centre 
County, was then the president judge of this Fourth Judicial District, com- 
posed of Mifflin, Center, Huntingdon, and Bedford Counties, and by this 
act of the Legislature he was made the pioneer judge to hold court in and 
for Jefferson County. Hon. Thomas Burnside was born in the county of 

285 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Tyrone, Ireland, July 28, 178a. His father emigrated to Philadelphia, Penn- 
sylvania, in [79a. 

In 1800 Bumside read law with lion. Robert Porter, of Philadelphia, 
who died suddenly in Brookville in 1S4J. being - found dead in his bed in 
the morning at the Red Lion Tavern, kept bv John Smith. Judge Porter 
stopped off the stage to rest over night while travelling through this wilder- 
ness. Porter is buried in the old cemetery. On February 13. 1804, lion. 
Thomas Burnside was admitted to the Philadelphia bar. In the month of 
March of that year he moved to and settled in Bellefoute, (.'enter County. 
Pennsylvania. In tSlI he was elected to the State Senate. In \Si5 he was 
sent to Congress. In t8l6 he was appointed a president judge. In 1823 he 
was again elected a State Senator and made Speaker, hi iSjo he was again 
appointed president judge, and in 1845 he was commissioned judge for the 
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. 

In stature Judge Burnside was of medium height, dark eomplexioned. 
and very homely. He was a learned lawyer, an able jurist, and a kind, 
honest, open-hearted gentleman. He served as judge in Jefferson County 
until September 1. [835, when the Eighteenth Judicial District was organized. 
1 ike other judges of his period, he could get " drunk through and through* 
even court week. 

niK EIGHTEEN ill DISTRICT 

By an act passed April 8. 1S33, the counties of Potter. McKean. Warren, 
and Jefferson were made the Eighteenth Judicial District, from and after 
September 1. 1^5. and the governor was required to appoint a president 
judge for the district, and Nathaniel B. Eldred, of Mckean County, was 
appointed judge November to, 1 S^ 5 . Judge Eldred resigned in 1839. He 
died January 27, [S67. 

COURTS WITHIN rtlF EIGHTEENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT IN 1S37 

Warren County. — The court at Warren, for Warren County, will be held 
on the first Mondays of March. June. September, and December. 

Jefferso County. — At Brookville. for Jefferson County, the second Mon- 
days of February, May. September, and December. 

McKean County. — At Smethport, for McKean County, the Mondays 
immediately after the courts in Brookville. 

Pottet County. — At Goudersport, for Potter County, on the Mondays 
immediately after the courts in McKean County. 

Hon. Nathaniel B. Elpkei\ ' ..>.v dge of said courts. 

Alexander McCalmont. of Franklin. Venango County, was appointed 
judge Max 31, 1S39, and served until 1840. As an illustration of the man. 
and his manner of holding court. 1 give an incident that occurred in Ridgway, 
Elk County, in 1844, while be was holding the pioneer court there. 

j86 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

The pioneer court crier was Nathaniel Hyatt, of Kersey, and he, like 
everybody else in those days, was fond of attending court for the sake of 
visiting, seeing the judge, telling stories, and " smiling with his neighbors." 

Mr. Hyatt was a large man, peculiar, and had a coarse voice. Judge 
Alexander McCalmont, of Venango, was on the bench, a very easy-going, 
mild-mannered man. 

One day while the court was in session Mr. Hyatt was busy telling a 
bevy of neighbors some stories in the court-room and talking loud. The 
judge thought there was a little too much noise in court, and, to personally 
reprimand Mr. Hyatt, he commenced " a rapping, gently tapping, tapping," 
three times on the desk and addressing Mr. Hyatt thus: "Crier, there is a 
little too much noise in court." 

Promptly Mr. Hyatt responded by stamping his right foot violently on 
the floor, and in his loud, coarse voice exclaimed, " Let there be silence in 
court. What the hell are you about?" 

Joseph Bufnngton, of Kittanning, Armstrong County, was appointed 
judge June I, 1849, to serve until the end of the next session of the State 
Senate. He was reappointed January 15, 1850. Under the amended consti- 
tution of the State the president judge was made elective for ten years, and 
the associates for five. 

Eminent lawyers then attended all courts in the district They rode in 
the stage or on horseback, wore green leggings, and carried their papers, 
books, etc., in large leather saddle-bags. Most of these circuit lawyers were 
very polite gentlemen, and particular not to refuse a " drink." 

CRIME 

From 1778 to 1855, inclusive, three hundred and twenty-eight persons 
were hanged in Pennsylvania. Of these, five suffered the penalty of death for 
high treason, eight for robbery, fourteen for burglary, three for assault, one 
for arson, four for counterfeiting, and seven for unknown offences. On 
April 22, 1794, the death penalty was abolished except for murder in the 
first degree. Before 1834 hangings took place in public, and since then in 
jail-yards or corridors. 

I will here give a sample of justice in 1784. Joe Disbury was tried in 
Sunbury for thievery, etc., found guilty, and sentenced to receive thirty- 
nine lashes, stand in the pillory one hour, have his ears cut off and nailed to 
the post, and be imprisoned three months and pay a fine of thirty pounds. 



2S7 



CHAPTER XV 



THE PIONEER DOCTOR IN NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA — BROOKVILLE S 

PIONEER RESURRECTION; OR, " WHO SKINNED THE NIGGER?" THE TRUE 

STORY OF THE ORIGIN OF THE STATE ANATOMICAL LAW 



Medicine was practised by the Egyptian priests. Moses, the Law-giver, 
was a doctor and learned in all the arts of the Egyptians. 

The pioneer and early doctor was a useful citizen, and his visits to the 
early settlers when afflicted was a great comfort. How we all long now 
to see the doctor when we are sick! These isolated people longed just the 
same for the coming of their doctor. The science of medicine then was 
very crude, and the art of it very imperfect, hence the early practitioner 
had but limited skill; yet, while exercising whatever he professed for the 
relief of suffering, his privations and labor while travelling by night or day 
on horseback with his " old pill-bags" were hard and severe in the extreme. 
The extent of his circuit was usually from fifty to one hundred miles over 
poor roads and paths, swimming his horse through creeks and rivers as best 
he could. I have travelled a circuit of one hundred miles in my day. In 
those days every one had respect for the doctor, and every family along 
his circuit was delighted with an opportunity to extend free hospitality to 
the doctor and his horse. 

When I commenced the practice of medicine, I had to ride on horseback. 
My field extended all through and over Jefferson, Forest, Elk, as well as 
the western part of Clearfield County. My rides were long, day and night, 
through rain, mud, sleet, cold, snow, and darkness, with no rubber garments 
to protect me from storms. I have travelled the creek beds, forded and 
swam my horse when the rivers were in rafting stage, rode over paths, 
and ridden many a time from dark until daylight all alone through the wilder- 
ness, twenty, thirty, or forty miles, stopping about midnight at some cabin 
to give my horse a little feed. 

In those days there was no telegraph, telephone, or daily mail through 
which to summon a doctor, but a neighbor had to be sent on foot or on horse- 
back to find a physician, and not to come back without him. I was a good 
practical botanist, and used mostly herbs and roots ; these I gathered in the 
spring, summer, and fall. Recipes were the fad then. One of my preceptors 
had a book of these, which I carefully copied, and any others I could find. 
Medical colleges were few, and medical literature was scarce. As doctors 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

we knew but little, and had to rely on what common-sense we possessed. My 
partner, Dr. Niver, made what he called " devil's broth." It was a mixed 
decoction of about all our roots and herbs, to be administered, as he said, 
" with the hope that some one of the ingredients would hit the disease." 

Medicine and its practice was about all theory ; remedies were crude and 
drastic ; instruments few, imperfect, and clumsy. I feel amazed when I think 
how ignorant I was, yet I tied arteries, set broken bones, amputated limbs, 
saved lives ! The pioneer doctor unselfishly responded to all calls, asking no 
questions as to pay, and performing more free labor for humanity than all 
other classes of men combined. 

In learning the art I rode with my preceptor. In some of my long rides I 
have become so tired about midnight that I felt I could not go a step farther, 
when I would dismount from my horse, hitch him to a log on the outside 
of a log-barn, slip the bridle around his neck, climb into the mow, throw the 
horse an armful of hay, and then fall asleep in the hay, only to awaken when 
the sun was an hour or two high. The pioneer doctor carried his pill-bags 
well stocked with calomel, Dover's powder, tartar emetic, blistering salve, a 
pair of old turnkeys for extracting teeth, and spring- and thumb-lancets for 
bleeding purposes, as everybody had to be bled, sick or well. Twenty-five 
cents was the fee for bleeding, and the amount of blood drawn from the arm 
was from half a pint to a quart. The custom of bleeding sick or well fell 
into disrepute about 1850. A town visit was from twenty-five to fifty cents, 
a visit in the country twenty-five cents a mile, an obstetric fee five dollars. 
The pioneer doctor always wore green leggings or corduroy overalls. I was 
no exception to this rule. Sanitary science was unknown fifty years ago. 

THE OLD-FASHIONED DOCTOR, BY H. C. DODGE 

" He'd stalk to our crib-side and order us gruffly 

To stick out our tongue, which we'd do with such dread, 
And give, while he handled our pulses so roughly, 
An ominous shake of his solemn old head. 

" And then, while he listened to mother's description 
Of things we had eaten and what we had done, 
He grimly would write his old Latin prescription 
For nastiest medicines under the sun. 

" Those horrible doses. How mother would scold us, 
And beg us and buy us to take 'em in vain ; 
And oh, how we'd struggle when father would hold us 
And squeeze shut our noses regardless of pain. 

" And, when forced to open our mouths, quickly mother 
Would shove in a spoonful that strangled us till 
We spluttered it out — just in time for another. 
Its vile, deathly taste's in our memory still." 
19 289 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" brookville's pioneer resurrection; or, 'who skinned the nigger?' 

the truth told for the first time, by the only one now living 

of the seven who were engaged in it the true story of the 

origin of the state anatomical law 

" To everything there is a time and a season." 

" On Sunday morning, November 8, 1857, Brookville was thrown into 
a state of the greatest commotion and excitement, occasioned by the dis- 
covery by W. C. Smith (then a lad of fifteen) of the mutilated remains of a 
human being in an ice-house belonging to K. L. Blood, on the corner of 
Pickering Street and Coal Alley, or where Mrs. Banks now lives. When 
discovered by Smith, the door was broken open, having been forced during 
the night, and the body was found lying on the ice, with a board under the 
shoulders and head, the legs and arms spread apart, the intestines taken out, 
a lump of ice placed in the abdominal cavity, and the body literally skinned, 
the cuticle having been removed entirely from the crown of the head to the 
soles of the feet. 

" Filled with terror, young Smith ran from the spot, telling his discovery 
to all he met. Men, women, and children rushed en masse to the ice-house. 
Thoughts of savage butchery, suicide, and horror took hold of the people 
Women cried, and men turned pale with indignation. The news of Smith's 
discovery spread like wildfire, and the excitement and indignation became 
more and more intense as hundreds of men, women, and children from the 
town and vicinity gathered around the lonely ice-house. It was at first 
supposed to be murder most foul ; but, on a closer inspection of the ' remains' 
by Henry R. Fullerton, a little ' curly hair,' resembling ' negro wool,' was 
found lying loose near the body. This was a clue. Fullerton then declared 
it was the mutilated corpse of one Henry Southerland, who had died about 
ten days before and been buried in the old graveyard. Tools were at once 
procured by the excited mob, led by Henry R. Fullerton, Cyrus Butler, Sr., 
Richard Arthurs, Esq., and others, and a rush was made for Southerland's 
grave. Arriving there, and upon the removal of a few shovelfuls of dirt, a 
loose slipper was found, and farther on its mate. When the coffin was 
reached, the body was found to be gone, and only the clothes, torn off, and 
lying inside, were to be seen. What was this desecration for? Cyrus Butler, 
Sr., a gruff old man, said, ' For money.' He boldly asserted that men nowa- 
days would do anything for money. ' Yes,' he said, ' skin human excrement 
and eat the little end on't.' Soon, in the absence of any better theory, every- 
body seemed to accept his belief, and it was positively asserted from one 
to another that ' a negro hide would sell for five hundred dollars, to make 
razor-strops,' etc. 

" During the entire day the mob were at sea. The officials permitted the 

290 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

body to remain exposed, — a revolting spectacle to men, women, and children. 
To all of this I was an interested spectator. 

" At nightfall an inquest was summoned of twelve men by Justices John 
Smith and A. J. Brady. 

" coroner's inquest 

" ' Proceedings of the coroner's inquest, held in the borough of Brook- 
ville, upon the body of a man found in the ice-house belonging to K. L. 
Blood, on the corner of Pickering Street and Spring [Coal] Alley, on the 
morning of Sunday, November 8, 1857. 

" ' In pursuance of the summons issued by Justices John Smith and A. J. 
Brady, the following persons were called and sworn, — to wit: E. R. Brady, 
J. J. Y. Thompson, Andrew Craig, John Boucher, Levi A. Dodd, Christopher 
Smathers, Henry R. Fullerton, G. W. Andrews, S. C. Arthurs, John E. 
Carroll, John Ramsey, Daniel Smith, who repaired to the ice-house and made 
an examination of the body there deposited, and found the remains of a male 
human being, with the breast sawed open, the bowels and entrails removed, 
the toe- and finger-nails cut off at the first joint, and the skin of the entire 
body removed. 

"'The grave in which Henry Southerland (colored), of Pine Creek 
Township, had been buried having been opened in the presence of a number 
of the jurors and other persons, and it being found that the body of said 
deceased had been removed from the said grave, the following witnesses were 
called and sworn : 

" ' David Banks, sworn : I helped open the grave in which the body of 
Henry Southerland (colored) had been buried; found no body in the coffin; 
found the burial clothes rolled up in a bundle and placed in the head of the 
coffin ; found one of the slippers in which deceased was buried in the clay 
about a foot above and before coming to the coffin ; the body had evidently 
been removed. 

" ' F. C. Coryell, sworn : Was present at the opening of the grave 
to-day ; saw the coffin opened and no body there ; found the clothes thrown 
in carelessly in a heap; one slipper with the clothes in the coffin and another 
in the clay some distance above the coffin : these slippers had my cost mark 
on, and are the same as purchased from me by the friends of Henry Souther- 
land for his funeral. 

' ' A. R. Marlin, sworn : Henry Southerland was buried in the grave- 
yard at Brookville on Wednesday or Thursday last ; helped to bury him ; 
the grave opened to-day is the one in which deceased was placed ; no body 
in the coffin when opened to-day. 

' ' Richard Arthurs, sworn : I examined the body in the ice-house this 
day ; looked at the mouth and tongue ; they resembled those of a person 
who had died of a disease ; two double teeth out ; seemed as if they had 
recently been drawn : found some hair about the back of the neck, which was 

291 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

black and curly ; think it was the hair of a negro, or whiskers ; think this is 
the body of Henry Southerland ; toes, fingers, and skin taken off. 

" ' After making these enquiries and believing the body found in the 
ice-house to be that of Henry Southerland, which had been removed from 
the graveyard in the borough of Brookville, the jury caused the same to be 
taken up and deposited in the coffin, and placed in the grave from which the 
body of said Southerland had been removed, and the same filled up in their 
presence; then returning to the office of John Smith, Esq., a justice of the 
peace, adjourned, to meet at nine o'clock to-morrow (Monday) morning. 

" ' The jury render their verdict as follows : That the body found in the 
ice-house is, to the best of their knowledge and belief, the body of Henry 
Southerland, stolen from the grave in which the same had been deposited ; 
and that the skin, bowels, and toe- and finger-nails had been removed by 
some person or persons to the jury unknown. 

" ' E. R. Brady, Foreman. 

' December 17, 1857. It is adjudged that there was probable cause for 
holding the inquest. 

'"By the Court, 

"'J. S. McCalmont.' 

" This coroner's verdict was supposed to have been manipulated by the 
' Masons.' It was the custom then to charge all unpopular verdicts on ' the 
Masons.' 

" After the inquest jurors viewed the body and ice-house on Sunday 
evening, a rope was tied around Southerland's neck, he was dragged into 
Coal Alley, thrown into his coffin, and reburied in the old graveyard, 
where lie 

" ' Hearts once pregnant with celestial fire, 

Hearts that the rod of empire might have swayed. 
Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre.' 

"Who were the ghouls? As usual, stupidity and prejudice came to 
the front, and picked out for vengeance two innocent and inoffensive colored 
men living in the suburbs of the town. ' The law ordained in reverence 
we must hold,' and so on Sunday evening Theresa Sweeney, a sister of 
Southerland's, was sent for, and she made information against Charles 
Anderson and John Lewis. Cyrus Butler, Jr., a constable then in Pine Creek 
Township, arrested forthwith these two harmless colored men and thrust them 
into jail. On Monday morning, the 9th, Anderson and Lewis had a hearing 
before Justices Smith and Brady. George W. Ziegler, an able lawyer, 
represented the Commonwealth ; but the poor negroes were without friends 
or a lawyer. However, as there was no evidence against them, they were 
discharged. The excitement was now so intense that several newly made 

292 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

graves were opened to see if friends had been disturbed. A few timid 
people placed night-guards in the cemetery. 

" In commenting on this atrocity, the Jeffcrsonian said, ' Taking every- 
thing into consideration, it was one of the most inhuman and barbarous acts 
ever committed in a civilized community; and although the instigators and 
perpetrators may escape the punishment which their brutality demands, they 
cannot fail to receive the indignant frowns of an insulted community. They 
may evade a prosecution through the technicalities of the law, and they may 
laugh it off, and when we have no assurance but that our bodies, or those of 
our friends, may be treated in the same manner, cold and hardened must be 
the wretch who does not feel the flame of indignation rise in his breast at 
the perpetration of such an offence. 

" ' Since the above was in type and the excitement somewhat allayed, 
it is now believed by every person that the body was placed in the ice-house 
for dissection, and it is supposed that those who had the matter in charge 
had the key to the door and left everything safe and secure on Saturday 
night, and that some thief, knowing that during the warm weather butter had 
been placed there for protection, broke open the door and entered the place 
for the purpose of stealing, and on striking a light or groping around in 
search of butter, he came across the " dead darky," and, in his haste to get 
away, forgot to shut the door, and we have no doubt that the fellow who 
broke open the door left in a hurry. This is, no doubt, the true state of 
the case.' 

" All this confusion was a good thing for us guilty parties, as it gave 
time for the angry populace to cool off. 

" Who was this Henry Southerland ? He was a stout, perfect specimen 
of physical manhood. He was a son of Charles and Susan Southerland, nee 
Van Camp. Charles Southerland came here in 1812, — a run-away slave. 
Miss Van Camp came to Port Barnett with her father, Fudge Van Camp, 
in 1801. Henry Southerland was born on the farm now owned by John 
Hoffman. He was a North Forker, and, like the other ' North Fork' boys, 
could drink, swear, wrestle, shoot, jump, ' pull square,' and raft. In the 
latter part of October, 1857, he took the fever and died in a few days, aged 
about thirty years. He lived then on what is called the Charles Horn farm. 
He was married and had one child. His widow and daughter now reside in 
the county, highly respectable people. 

" Dr. J. C. Simons was then living in Brookville, practising medicine 
under his father-in-law, Dr. James Dowling. Simons was ambitious to 
become a surgeon. He believed, like all intelligent doctors then, that a knowl- 
edge of anatomy was the foundation of the healing art. Dissection of human 
bodies then in Pennsylvania was a crime. You could dissect mules and 
monkeys, but not men. Tt was legal in New York State, and was made so 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

in 1789, to dissect the bodies of executed criminals, and this law in New York 
was greatly improved in 1854. New York was the first State in the New 
World to legalize ' the use of the dead to the living.' Massachusetts in i860 
passed a local law. 

" The first legislation in Pennsylvania looking toward legalized dissection 
locally was in 1867. A member of the House introduced a local law to apply 
to the counties of Philadelphia and Allegheny, — viz., No. 482, ' An Act for the 
promotion of medical science, and to prevent the traffic in human bodies, in 
the city of Philadelphia and the county of Allegheny.' This law passed finally 
and was approved by John W. Geary on the 18th day of March, 1867." 

This law of 1867 was incepted by the Philadelphia College of Physicians, 
manipulated and pushed in and through the Legislature by a committee of that 
body consisting of Drs. D. Hayes Agnew, S. D. Gross, Henry Hartshorn, 
and others. 

Of the members and senators at that time who deserve a special notice 
for services rendered, I mention Dr. Wilmer Worthington, then a senator 
from Chester County. 

" The first human body dissected was in Alexandria, Egypt, the cradle 
of anatomy. England legalized dissection in 1832. The first subject dissected 
in Jefferson County was in Brookville, in the winter of 1854-55, by Dr. 
George Watt, Dr. McClay, Samuel C. Arthurs, and a student, G. W. Burkett, 
now a doctor in Tyrone City, Pennsylvania. This subject was stolen from a 
graveyard in Clarion County, Pennsylvania. He was an Irishman who froze 
to death. He drank too much water in his whiskey. 

" Ambition is something like love. — laughs at law and takes fearful 
risks. The death of Southerland, Simons thought, was a good chance for 
a subject and a surgical school to advance himself and assist the rest of us. 
On the day of Southerland 's death Dr. Simons visited separately each of the 
following doctors in the town, and appointed a meeting to be held on Satur- 
day night, October 31, at ten o'clock, in K. L. Blood's drug-store, for the 
purpose of organizing and resurrecting the dead negro: Drs. J. G. Simons, 
John Dowling, Hugh Dowling, A. P. Heichhold, and W. J. McKnight. By 
request, I secured, on Friday, October 30, permission from Dr. Clarke to use 
for our school the empty house then owned by him, and where John Means 
now lives. Augustus Bell, an educated gentleman from Philadelphia, who lived 
and died here, and K. L. Blood, both medically inclined, were taken in as 
friends. Promptly at ten o'clock, Saturday night, October 31, 1857, all these 
parties met in council in the drug-store. Simons, the two Dowlings, and 
■* Little Bell' filled themselves full to the brim with Monongahela whiskey. 
Blood, Heichhold. and McKnight remained dry and took not a drop. At 
about eleven o'clock p.m. we all marched up Pickering Street, with a mattock, 
shovel, and rope. John Dowling and I were quite young men, and were 
stationed as watchers, or guards. The others were to resurrect. Simons and 

294 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

' Little Bell' worked like ' bees,' and were as brave as lions as long as the 
whiskey stimulated them ; but when that died out they kicked and balked 
badly. Mr. Blood then took hold like a hero. He dug, shovelled, broke open 
the coffin, and ' there, down there in the earth's cold breast,' placed the rope 
around the subject and assisted in the resurrection of Southerland. Remem- 
ber this : 

" ' It was a calm, still night, 

And the moon's pale light 

Shone soft o'er hill and dale,' 

when we, seven ghouls, stood around the empty tomb of Henry Souther- 
land. The grave was then hastily filled, and carefully too. The naked corpse 
was now placed on a ' bier.' John Dowling and I took one side, K. L. Blood 
and Simons the other, and under the autumn's full moon we left the grave- 
yard ; down Barnett Street, across Coal Alley, across Jefferson Street, down 
to Cherry Alley, at the rear of Judge Clark's property now, and up Cherry 
Alley to the rear of the lot now owned by John Means, and down that lot to 
the kitchen part of the house, into which the body was carried and placed 
in a little bedroom west and south of the kitchen. This was done between 
the hours of one and two a.m., unobserved. Tired and weary, we all went 
home to rest, and expected to open the school on Monday night, the 2d, but 
for reasons I will give you farther on this was not done. 

" On the evening of the 2d of November, 1857, my mother called me 
to one side and said, ' You have gotten yourself into trouble. You have been 
out nights. Don't say a word to me, just listen. You have been helping the 
other doctors to dig up Henry Southerland. Dr. Heichhold told Captain 
Wise all about it, Wise told his wife, she told Mrs. Samuel C. Arthurs, she 
told Mrs. Richard Arthurs, and Mrs. Richard Arthurs told me this after- 
noon. Now take care of yourself. As you are poor, you will have to suffer ; 
the others are all rich and influential.' 

" This was a nitroglycerin explosion to me. I made no reply to my 
dear mother, but left for Blood's drug-store, and repeated to him what mother 
had told me. His left hand went up as if struck by a Niagara electric current. 
I said to him, ' I want Dr. Clarke protected now ; Southerland must be re- 
moved from his house.' Blood agreed with me. A caucus was then called for 
that night at the store, when it was decided to remove the body from the house 
down through the cellar and secrete it under those present front steps of John 
Means's house, and there it lay naked from Monday night until Wednes- 
day night, when the cadaver was removed from there to Blood's ice-house, 
in a large coffee-sack, about nine p.m., as follows: McElhose had his printing- 
office in a little building east and on the same lot. It was on that vacant piece 
next to where Corbet's house is now. It was built for and used as a drug- 
store. There was a door upon the west side that opened into the under part 
of the porch and the front steps. If McElhose or any of his imps had ever 

29s 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

opened that door, ' a dreadful sight would have met their startled view.' I 
was a printer and had learned the art in part with McElhose, and I was 
detailed to go into his office and make all kinds of noises and detract the 
attention of the printers from any sounds under the porch. This I did by 
dancing, kicking over furniture, etc. I could hear the other parties at times ; 
but McElhose thought I was drunk, or such a fool that he only watched and 
heard me. Everything worked favorably, and ' Black Hen' was successfully 
removed to a house whose inside walls were frigid and white. ' In the icy 
air of night' the school for dissection was opened on Wednesday and closed 
on Saturday morning. As our secret was known to so many, and realizing 
that we could not dissect in Brookville without being caught up, we only 
skinned the cadaver to prevent identification and for our personal safety. 

" At this time Brookville was full of burglars, thieves, and house- 
breakers. On Friday night, the 6th, A. B. McLain was patrolling for robbers 
in Coal Alley, and under the ' ebon vault of heaven, studded with stars un- 
utterably bright,' he espied what he thought to be three suspicious persons, 
and pounced down on them like a hawk on a chicken. The suspects proved 
to be Drs. Hugh Dowling, Heichhold, and ' Little Bell' (Augustus Bell). Mc- 
Lain was then taken a prisoner by the suspects, dumped into the ice-house, 
and for the first time in his life saw ' a man skinned.' The job was completed 
that night, and the cuticle, toes, fingers, and bowels were buried under a 
large rock in the ' Dark Hollow,' on Saturday forenoon, by Drs. Heichhold 
and John Dowling. 

" For dissection the cadaver is divided into five parts : the head is given 
to one party, the right arm and side to another, the left arm and side to a 
third person, the right leg to a fourth, and the left leg to a fifth. In this 
way Dr. Simons and the four doctors skinned Henry Southerland. For us 
to dissect Southerland would have required about fifteen to twenty days. 

" As dissection is a slow and intricate work, and to avoid discovery and 
arrest, efforts were made to remove as earl)' as possible the subject from 
town. Dr. David Ralston, then practising medicine in Reynoldsville, was 
seen, and he agreed to come after the cadaver and take it home on Saturday 
night, the 7th. Dr. W. H. Reynolds, who resides now (1898) at Prescott- 
ville, this county, was then a young man, living on a farm near Rathmel, and 
Dr. Ralston secured his co-operation. On Saturday these two gentlemen came 
to Brookville with two mules in a wagon, and stopped at the American Hotel, 
J. J. Y. Thompson, proprietor. At a conference of all parties, it was arranged 
that Ralston and Reynolds should drive to the ice-house from the west end 
of Coal Alley about eleven o'clock p.m. They had a large store-box in the 
wagon to carry the corpse. The night was black dark. At ten p.m. J. Y. 
said, ' I'll be danged to Harry, what are so many doctors loafing here to-night 
for?' A little later, when Ralston ordered out the mules and wagon, Thomp- 
son was perfectly astonished, and exclaimed 'I'll be'dod danged to Harry 

2q6 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

and dangnation, if you men will leave my house at this late hour and this 
kind of a night for Reynoldsville.' But his objections were futile. We ghouls 
were detailed as follows : Blood and Bell as watchers, Heichhold and Hugh 
Dowling to open the ice-house door, and John Dowling and myself to hand 
the ' cadaver' out of the house to the men in the wagon. Explicit directions 
were given to avoid meeting there and forming a crowd. 

" Dr. John Dowling and I were there at our appointed time, but the door 
was unopened, and so we left as instructed. Dr. Heichhold in some way lost 
the key at or near the ice-house, and had to go and find a hatchet to open 
the door. This he did, and the wagon came along, and, finding no one there, 
stopped a moment and left without the subject. On the North Fork bridge 
they pushed their box into the creek. I always felt that Dowling and myself 
were somewhat to blame ; but we were young and had received orders not 
to loiter around, and if the door was not opened to leave. 

" About eight or nine o'clock on Sunday morning I went up to Dowling's 
and told John we had better go up and ' view the land.' When we arrived on 
the tragic scene we found the door open and broken. We peeped in, and 
while doing so we observed a boy — William C. Smith — on Pickering Street 
watching us. We walked briskly away up Coal Alley; but our actions and 
the ' broken door' excited Will's curiosity, and, hurrying over to the ice- 
house, he looked in, only to be horrified, and with arms extended toward 
heaven, pale as death, he ran home, exclaiming excitedly to those he met, 
that a man had been ' skinned alive' in Blood's ice-house. He had seen the 
man, and also saw Dr. John Dowling and Tom Espy looking at the man in 
the ice-house. William C. Smith has told his version of the discovery to me 
manv times, and always put ' Tom Espy' in my place. He never knew other- 
wise until he read this article. 

" In the evening of Sunday, the 8th, loud mutterings against the doctors 
were heard, and we all hid. I hid in the loft above our old kitchen. At mid- 
night, ' in the starlight,' I left for McCurdy's, in the Beechwoods. Monday 
morning, Blood had business in Pittsburg. David Barclay, a very able man 
and lawyer, was then our member of Congress, and he took charge of the 
prosecution. He and Blood had a political feud, and Barclay thought now 
was his time to annihilate Blood. Hearing of Barclay's activity, my brother, 
the late Colonel A. A. McKnight, then a young lawyer, made information 
against me before Esquire Smith, under the act of 1849, t0 protect graveyards. 
I returned on Tuesday night, and was arrested, taken before Smith, pleaded 
guilty, and was fined twenty-five dollars and costs, which I paid in full to the 
county commissioners, and I was the only one who had to pay a penalty. Un- 
der the above act the penalty was fine or imprisonment, or both. My convic- 
tion before Smith was to give me the benefit in court of that clause in the 
constitution which says, ' No person for the same offence shall be twice put 
in jeopardy of life or limb.' Barclay was a Republican, Blood was a Demo- 

297 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

crat. I was a Republican, without money or friends, therefore Barclay com- 
menced his prosecution against Blood and me, leaving the others all out for 
witnesses. The criminal records of Justices Smith and Brady for some reason 
have been destroyed, therefore I cannot give them. Barclay kept up his 
prosecution until 1859, as the following legal records of the court show. 

(Copy.) 
" ' No. 14 Feby. 1859. Q. S. 

" " Commonwealth vs. Kennedy L. Blood and William J. McKnight. 

" ' Indictment for removing a dead body from burial-ground. Prose- 
cutrix, Tracy Sweeney. 

" ' Witnesses, Charles Anderson, F. C. Coryell, L. A. Dodd, John Mc- 
Given, A. P. Heichhold, Richard Arthurs, John Dowling, John Carroll, Wil- 
liam Smith, Thomas Espy, Myron Pearsall, Hugh Dowling, Aug. Beyle, 
William Reynolds, Henry Fullerton, Matthew Dowling, William Russell, 
Sinthy Southerland, Zibion Wilber, James Dowling, A. M. Clarke, George 
Andrews, A. B. McLain, William Lansendoffer, I. D. N. Ralston, Charles 
McLain, James McCracken, Charles Matson. In the Court of Quarter Ses- 
sions for the County of Jefferson, February Session, 1859. 

" ' The grand inquest of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, inquiring 
for the body of the county, upon their oaths and affirmations respectfully do 
present, that Kennedy L. Blood and William J. McKnight, late of the County 
of Jefferson, on the fifth day of November, in the year of our Lord one thou- 
sand eight hundred and fifty-seven, with force and arms, at the County of 
Jefferson, the burial-ground of and in the borough of Brookville there situate, 
unlawfully did enter and the grave there in which the body of one Henry 
Southerland deceased had lately before then been interred; and these two, 
with force and arms, unlawfully, wantonly, wilfully, and indecently, did dig 
open, and afterwards, — to wit, on the same day and year aforesaid, — with 
force and arms, at the county aforesaid, the body of him, the said Henry 
Southerland, out of the grave aforesaid, unlawfully and indecently, did take 
and carry away, against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth of 
Pennsylvania. 

" ' And the grand inquest aforesaid, upon their oaths and affirmation, 
do further present, that Kennedy L. Blood and William J. McKnight, late 
of the County of Jefferson, on the fifth day of November, in the year of our 
Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, with force and arms, at the 
County of Jefferson, the burial-ground of and in the borough of Brookville 
there situate, unlawfully and clandestinely, did enter, and the grave there in 
which the bod}Tof one Henry Southerland, deceased, had lately before then 
been interred ; and these two, with force and arms clandestinely, did dig 
open, and afterwards, — to wit, on the same day and year aforesaid, with force 
and arms, at the county aforesaid, the body of him, the said Henry Souther- 

298 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

land, out of the grave aforesaid, clandestinely and indecently, did take, remove, 
and carry away, against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth of 
Pennsylvania, and contrary to the form of the statute in such case made and 
provided. 

" ' A. L. Gordon, 

District Attorney. 

Commonwealth vs. K. L. Blood and William J. McKnight. 
' In the Court of Quarter Sessions of Jefferson County. 
" ' No. 14 Feby. Session, 1859. Q. S. D. No. 2, page 87. 
' Indictment for removing a dead body. Not a true bill. County to 
pay costs. 

" ' William M. Johnson, 

" ' Foreman. 

' Received of A. L. Gordon, my costs, Hugh Dowling, Charles Ander- 
son, John E. Carroll, A. P. Heichhold, W. C. Smith, M. A. Dowling, A. B. 
McLain, H. R. Fullerton, M. M. Pearsall. Justice Brady, $4.52 ; attorney, $3.' 

" This indictment was under the act of 1855, ' To protect burial-grounds,' 
the penalty of which was : ' If any person shall open a tomb or grave in 
any cemetery, graveyard, or any grounds set apart for burial purposes, either 
private or public, held by individuals for their own use, or in trust for others, 
or for any church, or institution, whether incorporated or not, without the 
consent of the owners or trustees of such grounds, and clandestinely or un- 
lawfully remove, or attempt to remove, any human body, or part thereof, 
therefrom, such person, upon conviction thereof, shall be sentenced to undergo 
an imprisonment in the county jail or penitentiary for a term of not less than 
one year, nor more than three years, and pay a fine of not less than one 
hundred dollars, at the discretion of the proper court.' 

" The witnesses before the grand jury were of two kinds, — those who 
knew and those who didn't know. Those who knew refused to testify, on 
the ground of incriminating themselves, and Judge McCalmont sustained 
them. 

" The attorneys for the Commonwealth were A. L. Gordon, district 
attorney, and Hon. David Barclay. Our attorneys were Amor A. McKnight, 
Benjamin F. Lucas, and William P. Jenks. 

" K. L. Blood and Dr. Heichhold, until the day of their death, were 
opposite political party leaders, and whenever either one addressed a political 
assembly some wag or opponent in ambush would always interrogate the 
speaker with ' Who skinned the nigger ?' 

" Before concluding this article it might be well to say that the ' ice- 
house' was never used for any purpose after November 8, 1857. 

299 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" About the ist of December, 1882, when I was a State Senator, I was 
invited to dine with Professor W. H. Pancoast, of Philadelphia. The city, 
State, and nation was agitated over the robbing of ' Lebanon Cemetery,' in 
that city. It was thought that these subjects were for dissection in Jefferson 
Medical College. Dr. Pancoast was then professor of anatomy in that school. 
While at dinner the question was raised as to what effect this scandal would 
have upon the college. During this talk I broached the idea that now would 
be an opportune time to secure legal dissection for Pennsylvania. The wis- 
dom of my suggestion was doubted and controverted. I defended my posi- 
tion in this wise : The people of the city and State are excited, alarmed, and 
angered, and I would frame the ' act to prevent the traffic in human bodies 
and to prevent the desecration of graveyards.' This would appeal to the 
good sense of the people, as an effort, at least, in the right direction. Dr. 
Pancoast soon coincided with me, and from that moment took an active in- 
terest in the matter. He met with opposition at first from those who ought to 
have supported him; but I assured the doctor if he would get the Phila- 
delphia Anatomical Association of the city to draft a suitable law and send 
it to Senator Reyburn, of that city, I would support it from the country, and 
that we would rush it through the Senate. Dr. Pancoast deserves great 
praise for his energy in overcoming the timidity and fears of the college 
deans and others in the city, and in finally inducing the ' Association' to 
frame the present new and State act and send it to Senator Reyburn. The 
framing of the act was brought about in this wise, — viz. : 

EXTRACTS FROM THE MINUTES OF THE ASSOCIATION 

" ' Philadelphia, December 28, 1S82. 

" ' The undersigned request the Distribution Committee of the Anato- 
mist's Association to call a meeting of the Association at an early date to 
consider the propriety of attempting to modify the existing Anatomy Act, 
or to have a new act passed which will increase the legal supply of material. 

" ' John B. Roberts. 
Jno. B. Deaver. 
W. W. Keen.' 

" A special meeting of this Association was called for January 4, 1883, at 
1 1 18 Arch Street. There were present at this meeting Drs. Garretson, Hun- 
ter, Du Bois, Perkins, Mears, and Keen. A committee was appointed to 
draft a new Anatomy Act, consisting of the following : Drs. Mears, Hunter, 
and Keen. On Tuesday, January 9. 1883, this committee read the draft of 
their act, which was read and finally adopted. 

" John B. Roberts, 

" Secretary. 
300 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 



MEETING OF WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, II 

" The meeting was called to order by the President, and the minutes of 
the previous meeting were read and approved. 

" Present : Drs. Leidy, Forbes, A. R. Thomas, Pancoast, Brinton, Oliver, 
Stubbs, Janney, Hunter, Mears, Roberts, and Keen. 

" The new Anatomy Act, which had been printed and distributed as 
ordered at last meeting, was discussed, and a number of amendments sug- 
gested by the committee of revision were adopted. The last sentence of 
Section VI. (old Section V.) was discussed, and, on motion, its adoption was 
postponed until the next meeting. It was resolved to meet again on Saturday, 
January 27, at same place and hour, because some of the colleges had not had 
time to consider the act in faculty meeting. 

" It was resolved that the colleges and schools be requested to subscribe 
to a fund to meet the necessary expenses of preparing and presenting the Act 
to the Legislature ; the sums apportioned to each were, University, Jefferson, 
and Hahnemann, each twenty-five dollars ; Woman's, Pennsylvania Dental, 
Philadelphia Dental, Medico-Chirurgical, each ten dollars ; Academy of Fine 
Arts, Pennsylvania School of Anatomy, Philadelphia School of Anatomy, 
each five dollars. 

" Adjourned. " John B. Roberts. 

" Secretary. 

" MEETING OF SATURDAY, JANUARY 2J , 1883 

" The meeting was called to order by the President. On motion of Pro- 
fessor Pancoast, William Janney was appointed secretary pro tempore. The 
minutes of the meeting held January 24 were read and approved. 

" Present : Drs. Leidy, A. R. Thomas, Pancoast, Brinton, Oliver, Stubbs, 
Hunter, Mears, Keen, Agnew, and Janney. 

" Dr. Brinton moved to postpone action on the Act until the Faculty of 
Jefferson College had examined it. Motion debated by Drs. Brinton, Mears, 
Oliver, Stubbs, and Agnew. Motion withdrawn. 

" Motion by Dr. Agnew, seconded by Dr. Mears, that this bill be referred 
back to the Committee, with direction to employ counsel. Adopted. 

" Adjourned to meet at the call of the Committee. 

"' William S. Janney, 

" Secretary. 

" MEETING OF TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1 883 

" Called to order by the President. 

" Present : Drs. Leidy, Mears, Hunter, Oliver, Brinton, A. R. Thomas, 
Stubbs, and Roberts. 

" As the minutes of the previous meeting had not been sent by the tem- 
porary secretary, their reading was dispensed with. Dr. Mears reported that 

301 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

a new form of bill had been prepared by the Committee under the legal 
advice of Mr. Gendel and Air. Sheppard. This was accepted in toto. Moved 
that twenty copies of a petition prepared by Dr. Keen, to accompany the Act, 
be printed and signed by the members of the various faculties and schools. 
Carried. 

" Adjourned to meet Friday at rive p.m. at same place. 

" John B. Roberts, 

" Secretary. 



" At a meeting of the Association. February 9, 1883, it was resolved 
that a committee be appointed to present the bill (as then perfected) to 
the Legislature, to consist of one representative from each school, — viz., 
Agnew . Brinton, Thomas, Parish. Oliver, Mears, Garretson, Keen, Tanney. 
ami Roberts. By resolution of that committee. Dr. Leidy was made Chair- 
man ex officio. 

" Furman Sheppard. Esq., put the act in legal form and charged a fee of 
fifty dollars. 

" This State law in Pennsylvania legalizing dissection was passed finally 
on June 4. 1S83. Its passage met serious and able opposition in both Houses. 
I firmly believe that had 1 not been connected with and prosecuted in this 
pioneer resurrection case in Brookville, 1 would not have been impelled to 
propose such a law or to champion it in the Senate. As introduced by 
Senator Reyburn. the title was. ' Senate bill \\J. entitled An Act for the pro- 
motion of medical science, by the distribution and use of unclaimed human 
bodies for scientific purposes, through a board created for that purpose, and 
to prevent unauthorized uses and traffic in human bodies.' This State law 
was incepted and originated in the late residence of Professor W. H. Pan- 
coast. Eleventh and Walnut Streets." 

The petition of Dr. Keen was addressed to senators and members, as 
follows : 

"To the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of 
Pennsylvania. 

" The petition of the undersigned respectfully shows that they present 
herewith the draft of ' An Act for the Promotion of Medical Science by the 
Distribution and use of Unclaimed Human Bodies for Scientific Purposes. 
through a Board created for that Purpose, and to prevent Unauthorized Uses 
and Traffic in Human Bodies.' which they pray your honorable bodies to enact 
into a law for the following reasons : 

" It will increase the necessary facilities for medical education within 
this State, and will materially aid in preventing desecration of burial-grounds. 
Your petitioners do not deem it necessary to argue the point that the repeated 

302 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

dissection of the human body is necessary before any student of medicine 
should be allowed to take charge of the health and lives of the community. 
No woman in childbirth, no person the victim of accident, no sufferer from 
disease, is safe in the hands of men ignorant of the structure of the human 
body. 

" The only proper method to supply this knowledge is to furnish by 
law the bodies of those who have no friends or relatives whose feelings 
could be wounded by their dissection. This was done by the Anatomy Act 
of 1867. But this Act is defective in that its application is limited to the 
counties of Philadelphia and Allegheny, and an adequate supply of unclaimed 
dead human bodies is not furnished, and it does not provide specifically the 
machinery for an equitable distribution of the dead bodies so given for 
dissection. 

" In the Session of 1881-82 there were in the Dissecting and Operative 
Surgery Classes of the Philadelphia Medical and Dental Colleges 1493 stu- 
dents. Each student pursues his studies in anatomy during two years. If 
he be allowed to dissect one-half of one body a year — including also the 
practice of operations upon the same — this would require 746 dead bodies. 
The professors would need for their lectures about fifty more, making in 
all 796 ' subjects.' But during that same session the number actually avail- 
able for use from all sources was only 405. This is only one-half of the 
smallest number reasonable, to say nothing of the desirableness of a larger 
number to afford all the facilities a great Commonwealth should give its 
citizens, who can obtain their needful knowledge in no other way that is 
lawful. 

" That it is ' needful' one will readily see when it is remembered that the 
want of such knowledge renders doctors liable to suits for malpractice, which 
suits are upon the calendar of well-nigh every court of the State. The scanty 
supply is due to the fact that the unclaimed dead of one county are the only 
ones that are given for dissection, although the students come from all parts 
of this State in large numbers, as well as from other parts of this and other 
countries. (The present law, it is true, applies to Allegheny County, but this 
is practically of no use to the Philadelphia Colleges.) 

" During the ten years, 1873-1883, at the Jefferson Medical College and 
the University of Pennsylvania alone, out of a total number of over ten thou- 
sand students, there were 2686 from Pennsylvania; of this number, 1172 
were from Philadelphia and 15 14 from other parts of the State. In view of 
these important facts it would seem but just that the unclaimed and uncared- 
for dead who must be a burden upon the taxpayers of the several counties 
of the State for burial, should be given to the medical schools to supply this 
urgent need for dissecting material by students from every county in the 
State. 

" And your petitioners will ever pray, etc." 

.TO 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 
This petition was signed by the following physicians: 

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA 
William Pepper, M.D., Joseph Leidy, M.P.. James Tyson, M.P., Theo- 
dore G. Wormley, M.D., D. Haves A.gnew, M.H.. William Goodell, M.P.. 
John Ashlmrst, Jr., M.P.. 11. C. Wood. M.D., R. A. F. Penrose, M.P.. Alfred 
Stille. M.1X. Harrison Allen. M.H.. Charles T. Hunter, M.D. 

JEFFERSON MEDICAL COLLEGE 

S. D. Gross, M.D., Ellerslie Wallace. M.D., J. M. DaCosta, M.D., Wra. 
11. Pancoast, M.D., Robert E. Rogers, M.H.. Roberts Bartholow, M.D., 
Henry C. Chapman, M.D., J. H. Brinton, M.P.. S. W. Gross, M.D. 

PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS 
\Y. W. Keen. M.D. 

MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL COLLEGE OF PHILADELPHIA 

George P. Oliver. M.D., George E. Stubbs, M.D., Charles L. Mitchell. 
M.P.. Abraham S. Gerhard, M.D., Win. S. Stewart. M.P.. Frank O. Nagle, 
M.P.. W'm. V. Waugh, M.D. 

HAHNEMANN MEDICAL COLLEGE 

A. R. Thomas, M.P., Lemuel Stephens, M.P.. O. B. Gause, M.D., E. 
A. Farrington, M.P.. IV F. Betts, M.D., IVmherton Dudley, M.D., W. C. 

Goodno, M.P.. Charles M. Thomas. M.P.. John E. James". M.P.. Charles 
Mohr, M.D., R. B. Weaver. M.D., J. X. Mitchell. M.P.. W. H. Keim, M.D. 

PHI) ADELPHIA SCHOOL OF ANATOMY 
John B. Roberts. M.D. 

WOMAN'S MEDICAL COLLEGE OF PENNSYLVANIA 

James IV Walker. M.D., Rachel L. Bodley, M.D., Benj. B. Wilson. M.D., 
William H. Parrish, M.D., Anna E. Broomall, M.P.. Clara Marshall. M.D.. 
Emilie B. Du Bois, M.P. 

PENNSYLVANIA COLLEGE OF DENTAL SURGERY 

T. L. Buckingham, P.P.S.. J. Ewing Mears. M.P.. C. X. Peirce, D.D.S., 
Henry C. Chapman. M.P.. W. F. l.itch. P.P.S. 

3«M 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

PHILADELPHIA POLYCLINIC AND COLLEGE FOR GRADUATES IN MEDICINE 

R. J. Levis, M.D., Tlios. G. Morton, M.D., J. Solis Cohen, M.D., George 
C. Harlan, M.D., Henry Leffman, M.D., Edward O. Shakespeare, M.D., 
James Cornelius Wilson, M.D., John B. Roberts, M.D., Charles H. Burnett, 
M.D., Arthur Van Harlingen, M.D., Charles K. Mills, M.D., Edward L. 
Duer, M.D., J. Henry C. Simes, M.D. 

PHILADELPHIA COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY 

" This petition was presented to the Philadelphia County Medical Society 
and unanimously ordered to be signed by the officers." 

Resolutions endorsing the new law and petition were passed by the 
County Medical Societies throughout the State. 

" The act as passed and approved reads as follows, — viz. : 

" ' NO. I06. AN ACT FOR THE PROMOTION OF MEDICAL SCIENCE BY THE DIS- 
TRIBUTION AND USE OF UNCLAIMED HUMAN BODIES FOR SCIENTIFIC 
PURPOSES THROUGH A BOARD CREATED FOR THAT PURPOSE, AND TO PRE- 
VENT UNAUTHORIZED USES AND TRAFFIC IN HUMAN BODIES 

" ' Section i. Be it enacted, etc., That the professors of anatomy, the 
professors of surgery, the demonstrators of anatomy, and the demonstrators 
of surgery of the medical and dental schools and colleges of this Common- 
wealth, which are now or may hereafter become incorporated, together with 
one representative from each of the unincorporated schools of anatomy or 
practical surgery, within this Commonwealth, in which there are from time 
to time, at the time of the appointment of such representatives, not less than 
five scholars, shall be and hereby are constituted a board for the distribu- 
tion and delivery of dead human bodies, hereinafter described, to and among 
such persons as, under the provisions of this act, are entitled thereto. The 
professor of anatomy in the LTniversity of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, shall 
call a meeting of said board for organization at a time and place to be fixed 
by him within thirty days after the passage of this act. The said board 
shall have full power to establish rules and regulations for its government, 
and to appoint and remove proper officers, and shall keep full and complete 
minutes of its transactions ; and records shall also be kept under its direction 
of all bodies received and distributed by said board, and of the persons to 
whom the same may be distributed, which minutes and records shall be open 
at all times to the inspection of each member of said board, and of any district 
attorney of any county within this Commonwealth. 

: ' Section 2. All public officers, agents, and servants, and all officers, 
agents, and servants of any and every county, city, township, borough, dis- 
trict, and other municipality, and of any and every almshouse, prison, morgue, 
20 305 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

hospital, or other public institution having charge or control over dead human 
bodies, required to be buried at the public expense, are hereby required to 
notify the said board of distribution, or such person or persons as may, from 
time to time, be designated by said board as its duly authorized officer or 
agent, whenever any such body or bodies come into his or their possession, 
charge, or control; and shall, without fee or reward, deliver such body or 
bodies, and permit and suffer the said board and its agents, and the physicians 
and surgeons from time to time designated by them, who may comply with 
the provisions of this act, to take and remove all such bodies to be used within 
this State for the advancement of medical science; but no such notice need 
be given nor shall any such body be delivered if any person claiming to be 
and satisfying the authorities in charge of said body that he or she is of 
kindred or is related by marriage to the deceased, shall claim the said body 
for burial, but it shall be surrendered for interment, nor shall the notice be 
given or body delivered if such deceased person was a traveller who died 
suddenly, in which case the said body shall be buried. 

" ' Section 3. The said board or their duly authorized agent may take 
and receive such bodies so delivered as aforesaid, and shall, upon receiving 
them, distribute and deliver them to and among the schools, colleges, physi- 
cians, and surgeons aforesaid, in manner following : Those bodies needed for 
lectures and demonstrations by the said schools and colleges incorporated 
and unincorporated shall first be supplied ; the remaining bodies shall then be 
distributed proportionately and equitably, preference being given to said 
schools and colleges, the number assigned to each to be based upon the num- 
ber of students in each dissecting or operative surgery class, which number 
shall be reported to the board at such times as it may direct. Instead of 
receiving and delivering said bodies themselves, or through their agents or 
servants, the board of distribution may, from time to time, either directly or 
by their authorized officer or agent, designate physicians and surgeons who 
shall receive them, and the number which each shall receive : Provided ahvays, 
hoivever, That schools and colleges incorporated and unincorporated, and 
physicians or surgeons of the county where the death of the person or persons 
described takes place, shall be preferred to all others : And provided also, That 
for this purpose such dead body shall be held subject to their order in the 
county where the death occurs for a period not less than twenty-four hours. 

" ' Section^. The said board may employ a carrier or carriers for the 
conveyance of said bodies, which shall be well enclosed within a suitable 
encasement, and carefully deposited free from public observation. Said 
carrier shall obtain receipts by name, or if the person be unknown by a descrip- 
tion of each body delivered by him, and shall deposit said receipt with the 
secretary of the said board. 

" ' Section 5. No school, college, physician, or surgeon shall be allowed 
or permitted to receive any such body or bodies until a bond shall have been 

306 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

given to the Commonwealth by such physician or surgeon, or by or in behalf 
of such school or college, to be approved by the prothonotary of the court of 
common pleas in and for the county in which such physician or surgeon shall 
reside, or in which such school or college may be situate, and to be filed in the 
office of said prothonotary, which bond shall be in the penal sum of one thou- 
sand dollars, conditioned that all such bodies which the said physician or 
surgeon, or the said school or college shall receive thereafter shall be used 
only for the promotion of medical science within this State ; and whosoever 
shall sell or buy such body or bodies, or in any way traffic in the same, or 
shall transmit or convey or cause or procure to be transmitted or conveyed 
said body or bodies, to any place outside of this State, shall be deemed guilty 
of a misdemeanor, and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding 
two hundred dollars, or be imprisoned for a term not exceeding one year. 

" ' Section 6. Neither the Commonwealth nor any county or munici- 
pality, nor any officer, agent, or servant thereof, shall be at any expense by 
reason of the delivery or distribution of any such body ; but all the expenses 
thereof and of said board of distribution shall be paid by those receiving the 
bodies, in such manner as may be specified by said board of distribution, or 
otherwise agreed upon. 

''Section 7. That any person having duties enjoined upon him by 
the provisions of this act who shall neglect, refuse, or omit to perform the 
same as hereby required, shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to fine of not 
less than one hundred nor more than five hundred dollars for each offence. 

' ' Section 8. That all acts or parts of acts inconsistent with this act be 
and the same are hereby repealed. 

" ' Approved — the 13th day of June, a.d. 1883. 

" ' Robert E. Pattison.' 

" In debate in the Senate, the above law was ably opposed by Senators 
Laird, Lee, and Stewart, and its passage was advocated by Senators Rey- 
burn, Grady, Patton, and McKnight. 

" In closing this narrative I quote a paragraph from my remarks in 
the Senate in support of the passage of the law and in reply to the speeches 
of other senators : 

Where would the humanity exist then, especially that kind of which 
so much is said in regard to the dead? Humanity, I think, should first be 
shown to the living, and the Great Physician, whom senators quote on this 
floor as having had a regard for humanity, said, " Let the dead bury the 
dead." He took the same practical view that humanity should be practised 
for the living. We take a harsh view as medical men in regard to the dis- 
section of dead bodies. We consider subjects just as clay. I know this is 
repugnant to the common idea of mankind, but it is the true idea. It is the 
idea that will enable a medical man to be of sound, practical good, profes- 

307 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

sionally, in the world. For the crushed, relief in life is the great object, not 
relief after death. We have nothing- to do with that. Beautiful poetry and 
nice homilies can be delivered here by senators about death, but it is the 
living that we want to be humane to and not the dead, and if it requires the 
dissection of ninety-nine dead persons to relieve one living sufferer, I would 
dissect the ninety-nine dead persons and relieve the one living person. Other 
senators here would have us do just the reverse of that. I repeat, Mr. Presi- 
dent, this measure is in the interest of the laboring man ; it is in the interest 
of the mechanic : it is in the interest of science : it is in the interest of the 
poor the world over ; it is in the interest of the man who gets torn and 
lacerated in our mines and workshops, and who is too poor to travel to 
Philadelphia for his surgical aid. Enact this law. and the young man can 
go from Allegheny, from Jefferson, and from Armstrong Counties to Phila- 
delphia, and he can legally take the human body, which is the A B C of all 
medical knowledge, and he can dissect it there, and learn by that means just 
where each artery is, and where each vein is, and wLere the different muscles 
lie and the different relations they sustain to one another, and then he is 
qualified to return to Allegheny or Jefferson County, locate at the cross- 
roads or in die village, and perform the operations that are so much needed 
there for the relief of suffering humanity and the suffering poor. 

" ' You all know that the surgeons of Philadelphia are famous, not only 
in Philadelphia, but throughout the world, and why? It is because they have 
studied the anatomy of the human body so thoroughly and so perfectly. 

" ' We must have anatomical dissections. No man learns anatomy in 
any other way in the world than through anatomical dissections. Pictures, 
models, and manikins won't do. He must not only dissect one body, but he 
must dissect a large number of bodies. He cannot dissect too many, neither 
can he dissect too often ; therefore humanity requires that this dissection be 
legalized and go on. 

" ' Of course, we must have some regard for the sentiment of the living, 
and to respect that, we. in this bill, only ask that the unclaimed bodies of 
paupers be given to the medical colleges, not the bodies of those having 
friends. No body can be taken if any one objects." " 

For the law the yeas were, in the Senate : Adams. Arnholt, Biddis. 
Cooper, Coxe. Pavies, Grady. Hall. Hess. Humes. Keefer. Lantz. Longe- 
necker. McCracken, JYIacFarlane. McKuight, Patton. Reyburn. Shearer, Sill. 
Smith. Sutton. Vandegrift, Upperman. Wagner. Wallace. Watres. and Wol- 
verton — 2S. 

Nays: Agnew. Herr, Laird, Lee. Ross. Stehman. and Stewart — 7. 

We have now. in 1004. legalized dissection of the human body in nearly 
every State of the Union, and. as a result, the skill of the physician in the 
future " shall lift up his head, and in the sight of great men he shall stand 
in admiration." 

30S 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 



POPULATION OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA AND OF THE UNITED STATES 



1790 
1800 
l8lO 
1820 
1830 
1840 
18SO 



Whites 

424,099 
586,098 
786,704 
1,017,094 
1,309,900 
1,676,115 
2,258,160 



FROM I79O 


TO 


1850 INCLUSIVE 




Free Colored 




Total in 


Population in the 








Pennsylvania 


United States 


6,537 




3,737 


434,373 


3,929,827 


14,561 




1,706 


602,365 


5,305.941 


22,492 




795 


810,091 


7,239,814 


32,153 




211 


1,049,458 


9,638,191 


37-930 




403 


1,348,233 


12,866,020 


47.854 




64 


1,724,033 


17,069,453 


53,626 






2,311,786 


23,191,876 



RATIO OF REPRESENTATION IN THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 



From 



1789 to 

1793 " 

1803 " 

1813 " 

1823 " 

1833 " 

1843 " 

1853 " 

1863 " 



1793 as provided by the United States Constitution 30,000 

1803 based on the United States Census of 1790 33,ooo 



1813 
1823 

1833 
1843 
1853 
1863 
1873 



1800 33,000 

1810 35.000 

1820 40,000 

1830 47.700 

1840 70,680 

1850 93420 

i860 127,381 



" From the first Congress, in 1789, inclusive, until March 4, 1795, 
Senators and Representatives received each six dollars per diem, and six 
dollars for every twenty miles' travel. From March 4, 1795, to March 4, 1796, 
Senators received seven dollars, and Representatives six dollars per diem. 
From March 4, 1796, until December 4, 1815, the per diem was six dollars, 
and the mileage six dollars, to Senators and Representatives. From Decem- 
ber 4, 181 5, until March 4, 1817, each Senator and Representative received 
one thousand five hundred dollars per annum, with a proportional deduction 
for absence, from any cause but sickness. The President of the Senate pro 
tempore, and Speaker of the House, three thousand dollars per annum, each. 
From March 4, 1817, the compensation to members of both Houses has been 
eight dollars per diem, and eight dollars for every twenty miles' travel ; and 
to the President of the Senate pro tempore, and Speaker of the House, six- 
teen dollars per diem, until i860." 



m 



309 



tf^nd *ns <*£\? e«d c^nd e*"Y* *^l* «^» «v^v* 
e%&9 edte edte eCite eJrate •■€^» e»» elate eCite 



CHAPTER XVI 



WHITE SLAVERY ORIGIN NATURE IN ROME, GREECE, AND EUROPE — AFRICAN 

SLAVERY IN PENNSYLVANIA GEORGE BRYAN PIONEER COLORED SETTLER 

IN JEFFERSON COUNTY CENSUS, ETC. DAYS OF BONDAGE IN JEFFERSON 

COUNTY AND THE NORTHWEST 

White slavery is older than history. Its origin is supposed to have been 
from kidnapping, piracy, and in captives taken in war. Christians enslaved 
all barbarians and barbarians enslaved Christians. Early history tells us that 
Rome and Greece were great markets for all kinds of slaves, slave-traders, 
slave-owners, etc. The white slaves of Europe were mostly obtained in 
Russia and Poland in times of peace. All fathers could sell children. The 
poor could be sold for debt. The poor could sell themselves. But slavery 
did not exist in the poor and ignorant alone. The most learned in science, 
art, and mechanism were bought and sold at prices ranging in our money 
from one hundred to three hundred dollars. Once sold, whether kidnapped 
or not. there was no redress, except as to the will of the master. At one 
time in the history of Rome white slaves sold for sixty-two and a half cents 
apiece in our money. These were captives taken in battle. By law the mini- 
mum price was eighty dollars. A good actress would sell for four thousand 
and a good physician for eleven thousand dollars. The state, the church, and 
individuals all owned slaves. Every wicked device that might and power 
could practise was used to enslave men and women without regard to nation- 
ality or color. And when enslaved, no matter how well educated, the slaves 
possessed no right in law and were not deemed persons in law, and had no 
right in and to their children. Slavery as it existed among the Jews was a 
milder form than that which existed in any other nation. The ancients 
regarded black slaves as luxuries, because there was but little traffic in them 
until about the j-ear 1441, and it was at that date that the modern African 
slave-trade was commenced by the Portuguese. The pioneer English African 
slave-trader was Sir John Hawkins. Great companies were formed in London 
to carry on African traffic, of which Charles II. and James II. were members. 
It was money and the large profits in slavery, whether white or black, that 
gave it such a hold on church and state. The English were the most cruel 
African slave-traders. Genuine white slavery never survived in what is now 
the United States. In the year a.d. 1620 the pioneer African slaves were 
landed at Hampton Roads in Virginia, and nineteen slaves were sold. In 

310 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

1790 there were six hundred and ninety-seven thousand six hundred and 
eighty-one African slaves in the Middle States. 

Slavery was introduced in Pennsylvania in 1681, and was in full force 
until the act quoted below for its gradual abolition was enacted in 1780, by 
which, as will be seen, adult slaves were liberated on July 4, 1827, and the 
children born before that date were to become free as they reached their 
majority. This made the last slave in the State become a free person about 
i860. 

In 1790 Pennsylvania had slaves 3737 



In 1800 
In 1810 
In 1820 
In 1830 
In 1840 



1706 

795 
211 

403 
64 



On December 4, 1833, sixty persons met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 
and organized the American Anti-Slavery Society. 

NEGRO SLAVERY 

"He found his fellow guilty — of a skin not colored like his own; for such a cause 
dooms him as his lawful prey." 

Negro slaves were held in each of the thirteen original States. 

NUMBER OF SLAVES IN THE ORIGINAL THIRTEEN STATES IN 1 776 



Massachusetts 3.500 

Rhode Island 4,337 

Connecticut 6,000 

New Hampshire 629 

New York 10,000 

Pennsylvania 10,000 

New Jersey 7,600 

Delaware 9,000 



Maryland 80,000 

Virginia 165,000 

North Carolina 75,ooo 

South Carolina 1 10,000 

Georgia 16,000 



Total 497,o66 



In March, 1780, Pennsylvania enacted her gradual abolition law. Massa- 
chusetts, by constitutional enactment in 1780, abolished slavery. Rhode 
Island and Connecticut were made free States in 1784, New Jersey in 1804, 
New York in 1817, and New Hampshire about 1808 or 1810. The remaining 
States of the thirteen — viz., Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, North and South 
Carolina, and Georgia — each retained their human chattels until the close of 
the Civil War. In one hundred years, from 1676 until 1776, it is estimated 
that three million people were imported and sold as slaves in the United 
States. 

As late as i860 there was still one slave in Pennsylvania; his name was 
Lawson Lee Taylor, and he belonged to James Clark, of Donegal Township, 
Lancaster County. 

3" 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Slavkky August t. 179a staves. August 1. iSio. staves 

Free States 40,850 Free States -7.510 

Southern States 045.04: Southern States 1 ,063,854 

6B5,So; 1.00 1.504 
August 1. tSoo. August 1. tSao 

Free States 55.040 Free States 10.10$ 

Southern States 857,095 Southern States [,524,580 

803,94] 1,543,688 

JUNK 1. tS.;o Staves. 

Free States 3.50$ 

Southern States --.005.4-5 



j 
33* 



2.000.043 
Free States Juke 1. r.S40 

Maine, no slaves. Ohio 

New Hampshire 1 Indiana 

Vermont, none. Illinois 

Massachusetts, none. Michigan, none. 

Rhode Island 5 Wisconsin II 

•ecticut 1- Iowa to 

New York 4 

New Jersey o_- 4 Total in Free States I.iag 

Pennsylvania 04 Total in Southern States -\4$o.-\xi 

Ok- first man who died in the Revolution was a colored man. and Peter 
Salem, a negro, decided the battle of Bunker Hill : dinging to the Stars and 
Stripes, he cried. " Til bring kick the colors or answer to God die reason 
why!" His example fired the hearts of the soldiers to greater valor, and the 
great battle was won by our men. 

" It was on the soil of Pennsylvania in ioSj that the English penalty of 
death on over two hundred crimes was negatived by statute law. and the 
penalty of death retained on only one crime. — viz.. wilful murder. It was 
in the province of Pennsylvania that the law of primogeniture was abol- 
ished. It was on the soil of Pennsylvania that the first mint to coin money 
in the United States was established. It was on the soil of Pennsylvania in 
1829, and between Honesdale and Carbondale, that the pioneer railroad train, 
propelled by a locomotive, was run in the New World. Tt was on the soil of 
Pennsylvania that the first Continental Congress met. It was on the soil of 
Pennsylvania that the greal Wag .: Cka to of our liberties was written, signed. 
sealed, and delivered to the world. It was on the soil of Pennsylvania that 
the fathers declared ' that all men are born free and equal, and are alike 
entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.' It was on the soil of 
Pennsylvania that the grand old Republican party was organized, and the 
declarations of our fathers reaffirmed and proclaimed anew to the world. It 
was on the soil of Pennsylvania that C< mgress created our national emblem. 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

the Stars and Stripes; and it was upon the soil of Pennsylvania that fair 
women made that flag in accordance with the resolution of Congress, h 
was upon the soil of Pennsylvania that our flag was first unfurled to the 
breeze, and from that day to this that grand old flag has never been disgraced 
nor defeated. Jt was upon the Delaware River of Pennsylvania that the first 
steamer was launched. Jt was in Philadelphia that the first national bank 
opened its vaults to commerce. It was upon the soil of Pennsylvania that 
Colonel Drake first drilled into the bowels of the earth and obtained the oil 
that now makes the ' bright light' of every fireside ' from Greenland's icy 
mountains to India's coral strand.' Jt was on the soil of Pennsylvania that 
the first Christian Hible Society in the New World was organized. Jt was 
on the soil of Pennsylvania that the first school for the education and mainte- 
nance of soldiers' orphans was erected. It was on the soil of Pennsylvania 
that the first medical college for the New World was established. 

" And now, Mr. President, f say to you that it was permitted to Penn- 
sylvania intelligence, to Pennsylvania charity, to Pennsylvania people, to erect 
on Pennsylvania soil, with Pennsylvania money, the first insane institution, 
aided and encouraged by a State, in the history of the world." 

I be above is an extract from a speech made by me when Senator in the 
Senate of Pennsylvania in 1881. I reproduce it here only to reassert it and 
crown it with the fact that Pennsylvania was the first of the united colonies 
to acknowledge before God and the nations of the earth, by legal enactment, 
the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. Pennsylvania was the 
first State or nation in the New World to enact a law for the abolition of 
human slavery. This act of justice was passed, too, when the struggle for 
independence was still undetermined. The British were pressing us on the 
east, and the savages on the west were torturing and killing the patriot fathers 
and mothers of the Revolution. 

George Bryan originated, prepared, offered, and carried this measure 
successfully through the Legislature. I quote from his remarks on this meas- 
ure: " Honored will that State be in the annals of mankind which shall first 
abolish this violation of the rights of mankind ; and the memories of those 
will be held in grateful and everlasting remembrance who shall pass the law 
to restore and establish the rights of human nature in Pennsylvania." George 
Bryan did this. He was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1732, died in Philadel- 
phia, Pennsylvania, in 1791. To exhibit the advanced sentiment of George 
Bryan, I republish his touching and beautiful preamble to his law, and a section 
or two of the law which will explain its work : 

"an act for the general abolition of slavery . 
" When we contemplate our abhorrence of that condition to which the 
arms and tyranny of Great Britain were exerted to reduce us, when we look 
back on the variety of dangers to which we have been exposed, and how 

315 



HISTORIC OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

miraculously our wants in many instances have boon supplied, and our de- 
liverances wrought, when even hope and human fortitude have become unequal 
to the conflict, we arc unavoidably led to a serious and grateful sense of the 
manifold blessings which we have undeservedly received from the hand of 
that Being from whom every good and perfect gift cometh. Impressed with 
these ideas, we conceive that it is our duty, and we rejoice that it is in our 
power, to extend a portion of that freedom to others which hath been extended 
to us. and release from that state of thraldom to which we ourselves were 
tyrannically doomed, and from which we have now every prospect of being 
delivered. It is not for us to inquire why. in the creation of mankind, the 
inhabitants of the several parts of the earth were distinguished by a difference 
in feature or complexion. It is sufficient to know that all are the work of an 
Almighty hand. We find, in the distribution of the human species, that the 
most fertile as well as the most barren parts of the earth are inhabited by men 
ot complexions different from ours, and from each other: from whence we 
max reasonably, as well as religiously, infer that He who placed them in their 
various situations hath extended equally His care and protection to all. and 
that it becometh not us to counteract His mercies. We esteem it a peculiar 
blessing granted to us that we are enabled this day to add one more step to 
universal civilization, by removing, as much as possible, the sorrows of those 
who have lived in undeserved bondage, and from which, by the assumed 
authority of the kings of Great Britain, no effectual legal relief could be 
obtained. Weaned, by a long course of experience, from those narrow preju- 
dices and partialities we had imbibed, we find our hearts enlarged with kind- 
ness and benevolence towards men of all conditions and nations; and we con- 
ceive ourselves at this particular period extraordinarily called upon, by the 
blessings which we have received, to manifest the sincerity of our profession 
and to give a substantial proof of our gratitude. 

"II, And whereas the condition of those persons, who have heretofore 
been denominated Negro and Mulatto slaves, has been attended with circum- 
stances which not only deprived them of the common blessings that they were 
h\ nature entitled to. but has cast them into the deepest afflictions, by an 
unnatural separation and sale of husband and wife from each other and from 
their children, an injury the greatness of which can only be conceived by- 
supposing that we were in the same unhappy case. In justice, therefore, 
to persons so unhappily circumstanced, and who. having no prospect before 
them whereon they max rest their sorrows and their hopes, have no reasonable 
inducement to render their service to society, which they otherwise might, and, 
also in grateful commemoration of our own happy deliverance from that state 
of unconditional submission to which we were doomed by the tyranny of 
Britain — 

"HI. Be it and it i> hereby enacted, That all persons, as well 

Negroes and Mulattoes as others, who shall be born within this State from 

no 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

and after the passage of this act, shall not be deemed and considered as ser- 
vants for life, or slaves ; and that all servitude for life, or slavery of children, 
in consequence of the slavery of their mothers, in the case of all children born 
within this State from and after the passing of this act as aforesaid, shall be, 
and hereby is, utterly taken away, extinguished, and forever abolished. 

" IV. Provided always, and be it further enacted, That every Negro and 
Mulatto child born within this State after the passing of this act as aforesaid 
(who would, in case this act had not been made, have been born a servant for 
years, or life, or a slave) shall be deemed to be, and shall be, by virtue of this 
act, the servant of such person, or his or her assigns, who would in such case 
have been entitled to the service of such child, until such child shall attain 
unto the age of twenty-eight years, in the manner and on the conditions 
whereon servants bound by indenture for four years are or may be retained 
and holden ; and shall be liable to like correction and punishment, and enti- 
tled to like relief, in case he or she be evilly treated by his or her master or 
mistress, and to like freedom, dues, and other privileges, as servants bound 
by indenture for four years are or may be entitled, unless the person to 
whom the service of such child shall belong, shall abandon his or her claim 
to the same ; in which case the overseers of the poor of the city, township, or 
district, respectively, where such child shall be so abandoned, shall by indenture 
bind out every child so abandoned as an apprentice, for a time not exceeding 
the age herein before limited for the service of such children.'' 

Passed March i, 1780. 

THE " UNDERGROUND RAILROAD" IN NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" My ear is pained, 
My soul is sick with every day's report 
Of wrong and outrage with which this earth is filled." 

The origin of the system to aid runaway slaves in these United States 
was in Columbia, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. In 1787 Samuel Wright 
laid out that town, and he set apart the northeastern portion for colored people, 
and to many of whom he presented lots. Under these circumstances this sec- 
tion was settled rapidly by colored people. Hundreds of manumitted slaves 
from Maryland and Virginia migrated there and built homes. This soon 
created a little city of colored people, and in due time formed a good hiding- 
place for escaped slaves. The term " underground railroad" originated there, 
and in this way : At Columbia the runaway slave would be so thoroughly 
and completely lost to the pursuer, that the slave-hunter, in perfect aston- 
ishment, would frequently exclaim, " There must be an underground railroad 
somewhere." Of course, there was no railroad. There was only at this 
place an organized system by white abolitionists to assist, clothe, feed, and 
conduct fugitive slaves to Canada. This system consisted in changing the 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

clothing, secreting' and hiding the fugitive in daytime, and then carrying or 
directing him how to travel in the night-time to the next abolition station, 
where he would be cared for. These stations existed from the Maryland line 
clear through to Canada. In those days the North was as a whole for slavery, 
and to he an abolitionist was to be reviled and persecuted, even by churches 
of nearly all denominations. Abolition meetings were broken up by mobs, 
the speakers rotten-egged and murdered : indeed, but few preachers would 
read from their pulpit a notice for an anti-slavery meeting. Space will not 
permit me to depict the degraded state of public morals at that time, or the 
low ebb of true Christianity in that day. excepting, of course, that exhibited 
by a small handful of abolitionists in the land. I can only say, that to clothe, 
feed, secrete, and to convey in the darkness of night, poor, wretched human 




Charles Frown handcuffed ami shackled in Brookville jail. 1834 

" The shackles never again shall hind this arm, which now is free." 

" My world is dead. 
A new world rises, and new manners reign." 

beings fleeing for liberty, to suffer social ostracism, and to run the risk of die 
heavy penalties prescribed by unholy laws for so doing, required the highest 
type of Christian men and women, — men and women of sagacity, coolness. 
firmness, courage, and benevolence ; rocks of adamant, to whom the down- 
trodden could flock for relief and refuge. A great aid to the ignorant fugitive 
was that every slave knew the " north star," and, further, that if he followed 
it he would eventually reach the land of freedom. This knowledge enabled 
thousands to reach Canada. All slave-holders despised this " star." 

To William Wright, of Columbia, Pennsylvania, is due the credit of put- 
ting into practice the first " underground railroad" for the freedom of slaves. 
There was no State organization effected until about 1S3S. when, in Phila- 

31S 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

delphia, Robert Purvis was made president and Jacob C. White secretary. 
Then the system grew, and before the war of the Rebellion our whole State 
became interlaced with roads. We had a route, too, in this wilderness. It 
was not as prominent as the routes in the more populous counties of the State. 
I am sorry that I am unable to write a complete history of the pure, lofty, gen- 
erous men and women of the northwest and in our county who worked these 
roads. They were Quakers and Methodists, and the only ones that I can now 
recall in Jefferson County were Elijah Heath and wife, Arad Pearsall and 
wife, James Steadman and wife, and the Rev. Christopher Fogle and his first 
and second wife, of Brookville (Rev. Fogle was an agent and conductor in 
Troy), Isaac P. Carmalt and his wife, of near Clayville, James A. Minish, of 
Punxsutawney, and William Coon and his wife, in Clarington, now Forest 
County. Others, no doubt, were connected, but the history is lost. Jefferson's 
route started from Baltimore, Maryland, and extended, via Bellefonte, Gram- 
pian Hills, Punxsutawney, Brookville, Clarington, and Warren, to Lake Erie 
and Canada. A branch road came from Indiana, Pennsylvania, to Clayville. 
At Indiana, Pennsylvania, Dr. Mitchell, James Moorhead, James Hamilton, 
William Banks, and a few others were agents in the cause. 

In an estimate based on forty years, there escaped annually from the 
slave States fifteen hundred slaves ; but still the slave population doubled in 
these States every twenty years. Fugitives travelled north usually in twos, 
but in two or three instances they went over our wilderness route in a small 
army, as an early paper of Brookville says, editorially, " Twenty-five fugi- 
tive slaves passed through Brookville Monday morning on their way to 
Canada." Again: "On Monday morning, October 14, 1850, forty armed 
fugitive slaves passed through Brookville to Canada." 

Smedley's " Underground Railroad" says, " Heroes have had their deeds 
of bravery upon battle-fields emblazoned in history, and their countrymen 
have delighted to do them honor ; statesmen have been renowned, and their 
names have been engraved upon the enduring tablets of fame ; philanthro- 
pists have had their acts of benevolence and charity proclaimed to an appre- 
ciating world ; ministers, pure and sincere in their gospel labors, have had 
their teachings collected in religious books that generations might profit by 
the reading; but these moral heroes, out of the fulness of their hearts, with 
neither expectations of reward nor hope of remembrance, have, within the 
privacy of their own homes, at an hour when the outside world was locked 
in slumber, clothed, fed, and in the darkness of night, whether in calm or in 
storms, assisted poor degraded, hunted human beings on their way to liberty. 

" When, too, newspapers refused to publish antislavery speeches, but 
poured forth such denunciations as, ' The people will hereafter consider abo- 
litionists as out of the pale of legal and conventional protection which society 
affords its honest and well-meaning members,' that ' they will be treated as 

319 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

robbers and pirates, and as the enemies of mankind ;' when Northern mer- 
chants extensively engaged in Southern trade told abolitionists that, as their 
pecuniary interests were largely connected with those of the South, they 
could not afford to allow them to succeed in their efforts to overthrow slavery, 
that millions upon millions of dollars were due them from Southern mer- 
chants, the payment of which would be jeopardized, and that they would put 
them down by fair means if they could, by foul means if they must, we must 
concede that it required the manhood of a man and the unflinching fortitude 
of a woman, upheld by a full and firm Christian faith, to be an abolitionist in 
those days, and especially an ' underground railroad' agent." 

SLAVE TRAFFIC AND TRADE 

" And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he 
shall surely be put to death." — Exod. xxi. 16. 

In the United States Constitutional Convention of 1787 the Carolinas, 
Georgia, and New York wanted the slave-trade continued and more slave 
property. To the credit of all the other colonies, they wanted the foreign 
slave traffic stopped. After much wrangling and discussion a compromise 
was effected by which no enactment was to restrain the slave-trade before the 
year 180S. By this compromise the slave-trade was to continue twenty-one 
years. On March 2. 1807, Congress passed an act to prohibit the importation 
of any more slaves after the close of that year. But the profits from slave- 
trading were enormous, and the foreign traffic continued in spite of all law. 
It was found that if one ship out of every three was captured, the profits still 
would be large. Out of every ten negroes stolen in Africa, seven died before 
they reached this market. A negro cost in Africa twenty dollars in gun- 
powder, old clothes, etc., and readily brought five hundred dollars in the 
United States. Everything connected with the trade was brutal. The daily 
ration of a captive on a vessel was a pint of water and a half-pint of rice. 
Sick negroes were simply thrown overboard. This traffic " for revolting, 
heartless atrocity would make the devil wonder." The profits were so large 
that no slave-trader was ever convicted in this country until 1S61, when 
Nathaniel Gordon, of the slaver " Erie." was convicted in New York City 
and executed. It was estimated that from thirty to sixty thousand slaves were 
carried to the Southern States every year by New York vessels alone. A 
wicked practice was carried on between the slave and free States in this way. 
A complete description of a free colored man or woman would be sent from 
a free State to parties living in a slave State. This description would then 
be published in hand-bills, etc., as that of a runaway slave. These bills would 
be widely circulated. In a short time the person so described would be 
arrested, kidnapped in the night, overpowered, manacled, carried away, and 
sold. He had no legal right, no friends, and was only a " nigger." Free 

320 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

colored men on the borders of Pennsylvania have left home to visit a neigh- 
bor and been kidnapped in broad daylight, and never heard of after. A 
negro man or woman would sell for from one to two thousand dollars, and 
this was more profitable than horse-stealing or highway robbery, and attended 
with but little clanger. A report in this or any other neighborhood that kid- 
nappers were around struck terror to the heart of every free colored man 
and woman. Negroes of my acquaintance in Brookville have left their shanty 
homes to sleep in the stables of friends when such rumors were afloat. 

Before giving any official records in this history, I must pause to present 
the fact that one Butler B. Amos, an all-around thief, then in Jefferson County, 
was, in 1834, in jail, sentenced to " hard labor" under the law, and to be 
fed in the manner directed by law, — viz., on bread and water. 

Early convicts were sentenced to hard labor in the county jail, and had 
to make split-brooms from hickory-wood, as will be seen from this agreement, 
between the commissioners and the jailer: 

" Received, Brookville, Sept. 29th, 1834, of the commissioners of Jeffer- 
son county, thirty-seven broomsticks, which I am to have made into brooms 
by Butler B. Amos, lately convicted in the Court of Quarter Sessions of 
said county for larceny and sentenced to hard labour in the gaol of said 
county for six months, and I am also to dispose of said brooms when made 
as the said commissioners may direct, and account to them for the proceeds 
thereof as the law directs. Received also one shaving horse, one hand saw, 
one drawing knife and one jack knife to enable him to work the above 
brooms, which I am to return to the said commissioners at the expiration of 
said term of servitude of the said Butler B. Amos, with reasonable wear 
and tear. 

" Arad Pearsall, Gaoler." 

Amos had been arrested for theft, as per the following advertisement in 
the Jeffersonian of the annexed date : 

" Commonwealth vs. Butler B. Amos. Defendant committed to Sep- 
tember term, 1834. Charge of Larceny. And whereas the act of General 
Assembly requires that notice be given, I therefore hereby give notice that 
the following is an inventory of articles found in the possession of the said 
Butler B. Amos and supposed to have been stolen, viz. : 1 canal shovel, 1 
grubbing hoe, 2 hand saws, 2 bake kettles, 1 curry comb, 2 wolf traps, 1 iron 
bound bucket, 1 frow, 3 log chains, 1 piece of log chain, 2 drawing chains, 
1 piece of drawing chain, 1 set of breast chains, 1 hand ax, &c. The above 
mentioned articles are now in possession of the subscriber, where those inter- 
ested can see and examine for themselves. 

" Alx. M'Knight, /. P. 

" Brookville, August 25th, 1834." 
21 32 1 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

A few years after this sentence was complied with Amos left Brookville 
on a flat-boat for Kentucky, where he was dirked in a row and killed. Al- 
though Amos was a thief, he had a " warm heart" in him, as will be seen 
farther on. In the year iSjq seventy thousand persons were imprisoned in 
Pennsylvania for debt. 

The earliest official record I can find of Jefferson's underground road is 
in the leffersonian of September 15. 1834. which contained these advertise- 
ments, — viz. : 

" $150 REW'ARD 

" ESCAPED from the jail of Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, last night 
— a black man. called Charles Brown, a slave to the infant heirs of Ricliard 
Baylor, deceased, late of Jefferson county. Virginia ; he is about 5 feet 7 
inches high, and 24 years of age, of a dark complexion — pleasant look, with 
his upper teeth a little open before. I was removing him to the State of 
Virginia, by virtue of a certificate from Judges' Sliippcn. Irz-in & M'Kee, 
of the Court of Common Pleas of the county of Venango, as my warrant, to 
return him to the place from which he fled. I will give a reward of $150 to 
any person who will deliver him to the Jailor of Jefferson county Virginia, 
and if that sum should appear to be inadequate to the expense and trouble, 
it shall be suitably increased. 

" Johx Yates, 

" ^eot 1=; iS;j" " Guardian of the said heirs. 

"$150 reward!! 

" ESCAPED from the Jail of Jefferson county ; Pennsylvania last night, 
a black man, nam'd WILLIAM PARKER alias ROBINSON a slave, be- 
longing to the undersigned : aged about 26 years, and about 5 feet 6 inches 
high ; broad shoulders : full round face, rather a grave countenance, and 
thick lips, particularly his upper lip, stammers a little, and rather slow in 
speech. — I was removing him to the State of Virginia, by virtue of a certifi- 
cate, from Judges Sliippcn and Irzrin, of the Court of Common Pleas, of 
Venango county, as my warrant to return him to the place, from which he 
fled. I will give a reward of $150, to any person, who will deliver him to 
the Jailor of Jefferson county Virginia : and if that sum should appear to be 
inadequate to the expense and trouble, it shall be suitably increased. 

" Stephen Delgarx. 

" September 15. 1834." 

These slaves were very intelligent and good-looking. 
Arad Pearsall was then our jailer, and he was a Methodist and an 
abolitionist. 

Tefferson's pioneer jail, as I remember it. was constructed from stone 

322 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

spawls, with wooden doors and big iron locks. For safety, the prisoners were 
usually shackled and handcuffed, and they were fed on " bread and water." 
When recaptured, escaped slaves were lodged in county jails and shackled for 
safety. These slaves had been so lodged, while their captors slept on beds " as 
soft as downy pillows are." Charles Brown and William Parker reached Can- 
ada. Heath and Steadman furnished augers and files to the thief Amos, who 
filed the shackles loose from these human beings, and with the augers he bored 
the locks off the doors. Pearsall, Heath, and Steadman did the rest. In addi- 
tion, Steadman had Yates and Delgarn arrested for travelling on Sunday, and 
this trial, before a justice of the peace, gave the two slaves time to get a good 
start through the woods for Canada. Some person or persons in Brookville 
were mean enough to inform, by letter or otherwise, Delgarn and Yates that 
Judge Heath, Arad Pearsall, and James Steadman had liberated and run off 
their slaves, whereupon legal steps were taken by these men to recover dam- 
ages for the loss of property in the United States Court at Pittsburg, the 
minutes of which I here reproduce : 

" At No. 4 of October Term, 1835, in the District Court of the United 
States for the Western District of Pennsylvania, suit in trespass, brought 
July 10, 1835, by Thomas G. Baylor and Anna Maria Baylor, minors, by 
John Yates, Esq., their guardian, all citizens of Virginia, against Elijah 
Heath, James M. Steadman, and Arad Pearsall. 

" At No. 5, October Term, 1835, suit in trespass by Stephen Delgarn, 
a citizen of Virginia, against same defendants as in No. 4, brought at same 
time. Burke and Metcalf, Esqs., were attorneys for the plaintiffs in each 
case, and Alexander M. Foster for the defendants. 

" Suit, as No. 4, was tried on May 3, 4, and 5, 1836, and on May 6, 
1836, verdict rendered for plaintiff for six hundred dollars. 

" Suit No. 5 was tried May 6 and 7, 1836, and verdict rendered May 7, 
1836, for eight hundred and forty dollars. November 24, 1836, judgments 
and costs collected upon execution and paid to plaintiffs' attorneys. 

" In suit No. 4 the allegations as set forth in the declarations filed are : 
That plaintiffs, citizens of Virginia, were the owners of ' a certain negro man' 
named Charles Brown, otherwise ' Charles,' of great value, — to wit, of the 
value of one thousand dollars, — to which said negro they were lawfully enti- 
tled as a servant or slave, and to his labor and service as such, according to 
the laws of the State of Virginia. That on or about the 1st day of August, 
1834, the said negro man absconded, and went away from and out of the 
custody of said plaintiffs, and afterwards went and came into the Western 
District of Pennsylvania ; and the said plaintiffs, by their guardian, did, on 
or about the 13th day of September, 1834, pursue the said servant or slave 
into the said Western District of Pennsylvania, and finding the said servant 
or slave in said district, and there and then claimed him as a fugitive from 

323 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

labor, and caused him to be arrested and brought before the judges of the 
Court of Common Pleas of Venango County, in said Western District of 
Pennsylvania ; and it appearing upon sufficient evidence before them pro- 
duced in due and legal form, that the said negro man did, under the laws of 
Virginia, owe service and labor unto said plaintiffs, and that the said negro 
man had fled from the service of his said master in Virginia into Venango 
County, Pennsylvania, aforesaid ; and the said plaintiffs, by their guardian, 
did, on the said 13th day of September, 1S34, obtain from the said judges of 
the Court of Common Pleas of Venango County aforesaid a warrant for the 
removal of the said negro man to Virginia aforesaid ; and the said guardian 
was returning and taking with him, under and by virtue of the said warrant, 
said servant or slave to the said plaintiffs' residence in Virginia ; and while 
so returning — to wit, on or about the day and year last aforesaid — the said 
guardian at Jefferson County, in the Western District of Pennsylvania afore- 
said, did, with the assent and by the permission of the person or persons 
having charge of the public jail or prison in and for said County of Jefferson, 
place the said servant or slave in said jail or prison for safe-keeping, until he, 
the said guardian, could reasonably proceed on his journey with the said 
aforesaid servant or slave to Virginia aforesaid. Yet the said defendants, 
well knowing the said negro man to be the servant or slave of the plaintiffs 
and to be their lawful property, and that they, the said plaintiffs, by their 
guardian aforesaid, were entitled to have the possession and custody of him, 
and to have and enjoy the profit and advantage of his labor and services; 
but contriving and unlawfully intending to injure the said plaintiffs, and to 
deprive them of all benefits, profits, and advantages of and which would 
accrue to these said plaintiffs from said services, then and there, on or about 
the day and year aforesaid at Jefferson County aforesaid, did secretly and in 
the night-time unlawfully, wrongfully, and unjustly release, take, and assist 
in releasing and taking, or procure to be released or taken, the said negro 
man, then being as aforesaid the servant or slave of the said plaintiffs, from 
and out of the said prison or jail, where said servant or slave was placed for 
safe-keeping by said guardian as aforesaid ; whereby said servant or slave 
escaped, ran off, and was and is wholly lost to said plaintiffs, and said plain- 
tiffs deprived of all the profits, benefits, and advantages which might and 
otherwise would have arisen and accrued to said plaintiffs from the said 
services of said servant or slave. 

" The allegations and declarations in No. 5 were materially the same 
as in No. 4." 

Isaac P. Carmalt was co-operating with Heath and others at this time. 
Heath was a Methodist, and so was Pearsall. Heath moved away about 1846, 
and Pearsall died in Brookville about 1857. 

Isaac P. Carmalt was a Quaker, a relative of William Penn, and was 
born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1794. He learned the carpenter trade. 

324 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

In 1818 he left his native city with two horses and a Dearborn wagon, and 
in three weeks he crossed the Allegheny Mountains and located in Indiana 
County, Pennsylvania. In 1821 he moved to Punxsutawney. In 1822 he 
bought a farm near Clayville. In 1823 he married Miss Hannah A. Gaskill, a 
Quakeress, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. But little can be given of his 
great work in this direction owing to his death. His daughter, Mrs. Lowry, 
writes me as follows : 

" The last slave that came to our house was after the insurrection at 
Harper's Ferry. He claimed to have been in the insurrection. He came 
with a colored man who lived near Grampian Hills, whose name was George 
Hartshorn. This one was a mulatto, and claimed to be the son of Judge 
Crittenden, who, I think, held some important office at Washington, — Sena- 
tor or Congressman. The slave was very nervous when he came, and asked 
for a raw onion, which, he said, was good to quiet the nerves. He was also 
quite suspicious of Joe Walkup, who was working at our house at the time. 
He called him out and gave him his revolver, and told him he would 
rather he would blow his brains out than to inform on him, for if he was 
taken he would certainly be hung. He left during the night for Brookville. 
Most of the fugitives came through Centre and Clearfield Counties. One 
of the underground railroad stations was in Centre County, near Bellefonte, 
kept by a friend by the name of Iddings, who sent them to the next station, 
which was Grampian Hills, from thence to our house, and from here to Brook- 
ville. I remember well one Sabbath when I was coming home from church ; 
Lib Wilson was coming part way with me. We noticed a colored man ahead 
of us. I paid but little attention, but she said, ' I know that is a slave.' I 
knew Wilson's pro-slavery sentiments, and replied very carelessly that ' there 
was a colored family living near Grampian Hills. I supposed he was going 
to our house, as we had been there a short time before, wanting to trade 
horses for oxen to haul timber with.' But as soon as she left me I quickened 
my pace and tried to overtake him. I was afraid he might go through Clay- 
ville, where I knew there was a perfect nest of pro-slavery men, who had 
made their threats of what they would do if father assisted any more slaves 
to gain their freedom. Among them were the Gillespies, who boasted of 
being overseers or slave-drivers while they were in the South. He kept 
ahead of me and stopped at James Minish's, and I thought it was all over 
with him, as they and the Gillespies were connected, and most likely were 
of the same sentiment in regard to slaver)'. But imagine my surprise when 
I came up, Mr. Minish handed me a slip of paper with the name of ' Carmalt' 
on it, and remarked that I was one of the Carmalt girls. (I suppose it was 
the name of a station.) But he hurried the fugitive on, and I directed him 
to go up over the hill through the woods. I then hurried home for father to 
go and meet him. But when I got home, father was not there, so I put on 
my sun-bonnet and went but a short distance, when I met him. There were 

325 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

several persons in the house, so 1 slipped him in the back way. He seemed 
to be in great misery and could not eat anything, but asked for something 
to bathe his foot in. Then he gave a short account of his escape from slavery 
three years previous. After escaping he stopped with a man near Harris- 
burg, at what he called Yellow Breeches Creek, and worked for him, during 
which time he married and had a little home of his own. One day when 
ploughing in the held he discovered his old master from whom he had 
escaped and two other men coming toward him. He dropped everything 
and ran to his benefactor's house, and told him who he had seen. His bene- 
factor then pulled off his coat and boots and directed him to put them on, 
as he was in his bare feet, having left his own coat and boots in the field. 
Being closely pursued, he ran to the barn, and the men followed him. He 
was then compelled to jump from a high window, and, striking" a sharp 
stone, he received a severe cut in one heel, not having had time to put on 
the boots given him by his benefactor. When lie came to our house he was 
suffering terribly, not having had an opportunity to get the wound dressed. 
His benefactor had charged him not to tarry on the road. But father, seeing 
the seriousness of his wound, persuaded him to go to bed until midnight. 
But the poor fellow could not sleep, but moaned with pain. We gave him 
his breakfast, and then father had him get on a horse, while he walked, and 
it was just breaking day when they arrived at Brookville. A gentleman by 
the name of Christopher Fogle was waiting to receive them. We heard 
afterwards that the poor slave succeeded in reaching Canada, but returned for 
his wife, and was captured and taken back to slavery. 

" There is just one more incident that I will mention, which occurred at 
an earlier date. One morning I went to the door and saw four large colored 
men hurrying to the barn. I told father, and he went out and brought them 
in. Our breakfast was just ready. We had them sit down and eat as fast 
as they could, taking the precaution to lock the door, for several persons 
came along while they were eating. Father noticed that one of the slaves 
looked dull and stupid, and inquired if he was sick. One of the others replied 
that he was only a little donsey. When they were through eating, father 
hurried them to the woods and hid them somewhere near the old school- 
house then on the farm. When father went to take their dinner to them, the 
one said he was still a little donsey. and then showed father his back. His 
shirt was sticking to his back. He had been terribly whipped, and they had 
rubbed salt in the gashes. They then gave a short history of their escape. 
They said they had a good master and mistress, but their master had died and 
the estate was sold. The master's two sons then sold them, and they were to 
be taken to the rice-swamps to toil their lives away. They were determined 
to make their escape, but the one who had been so terribly whipped was cap- 
tured and taken back. Their old mistress planned and assisted him to make 
his escape by dressing him as a coachman, and with her assistance he found 

326 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

his way to Washington, where he met his companions and friends. From 
Washington they were guided by the north star, travelling only by night. 

" I think but few fugitives came by the way of Indiana, though I remem- 
ber of hearing father tell of one or two that he brought with him when he 
first came from Indiana who had escaped by way of Philadelphia. I think 
most came through Baltimore, where a Quaker friend by the name of Needles 
assisted the runaways through this branch of the underground railroad. 
From Baltimore they came through the Quaker settlements in Centre and 
Clearfield Counties. Father was the only one who conveyed them from our 
house near Clayville to Brookville. This he generally did by going himself 
or by sending some reliable person with them. Father concealed a man 
from Baltimore, a German, who used to smuggle slaves through. He had 
a furniture wagon, in which he concealed them, but was discovered and put 
in jail at York, Pennsylvania, but he escaped to Iddings, near Bellefonte, 
thence to Grampian Hills, and from there to father's, where he worked five 
years. He then left, and moved to Ohio. He became afraid to stay, for there 
were a few who had an inkling of his history and knew there was a reward 
of three thousand dollars for his arrest. One day in going to his work he met 
the sheriff from Baltimore, who knew him well, and told him to keep out of 
his sight, that there was a big reward offered for him. When he was first 
arrested he had a colored girl concealed in a bureau which he was hauling 
on his wagon." 

Christopher Fogle was born in Baden, Germany, in 1800. His father 
came with his family to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 181 7, and Christopher 
learned the tanning trade in Germantown. On June 26, 1826, he was mar- 
ried in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. About this time he joined the Metho- 
dist Church. In 1835 he migrated to Heathville, Jefferson County, Pennsyl- 
vania, and built a tannery. In 1843 ne moved to Troy and had a tannery. 
This he afterwards sold out to Hulett Smith, when he moved to Brookville 
and purchased from Elijah Heath and A. Colwell what was called the David 
Henry tannery. Rev. Fogle was in the underground railroad business in 
Heathville, and Mrs. Jane Fogle, his second wife, who still survives him, 
informs me that he continued in that business until the war for the Union, 
and she assisted him. The points in and around Brookville where the Rev. 
Fogle lived and secreted fugitives were, first the old tannery ; second, the 
K. L. Blood farm ; third, the little yellow house where Benscotter's residence 
now is ; and, fourth, the old house formerly owned by John J. Thompson, 
opposite the United Presbyterian church. Officers frequently were close after 
these fugitives, and sometimes were in Brookville, while the agents had the 
colored people hid in the woods. The next station on this road to Canada was 
at the house of William Coon, in Clarington, Pennsylvania. Coon would ferry 
the slaves over the Clarion, feed, refresh, and start them through the wilder- 
ness for Warren, Pennsylvania, and when Canada was finally reached, the 

327 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

poor fugitive could sing, with a broken heart at times, thinking of his wife, 
children, and parents yet in bonds, — 

" No more master's call for me, 

No more, no more. 
No more driver's lash for me, 

No more, no more. 
No more auction-block for me. 

No more, no more. 
No more bloodhounds hunt for me, 

No more, no more. 
I'm free, I'm free at last ; at last. 

Thank God, I'm free!" 

The following census tables are taken from Williams's " Memoirs and 
Administration," published in 1850: 

PROGRESS OF POPULATION IN THE UNITED STATES FOR FIFTY YEARS, FROM 

I/90 TO 184O 
First Census, August 1, 1790. 

Whites. Free Colored. Slaves. Total. 

Free States 1,900,772 26,831 40,850 1,968,453 

Slave States 1,271,692 32,635 645,047 1,961,374 



Total 3, 172,464 59,446 697,897 3,929,827 

Second Census, August 1, 1800. 

Free States 2,601,509 47,154 35,946 2,684,609 

Slave States 1,702,980 61,241 857,095 2,621,316 



Total 4,304,489 108,395 893,041 5,305.925 

Third Census, August 1, 1810. 

Free States 3,653,219 78,181 27,510 3,758,910 

Slave States 2,208,785 108,265 1,163,854 3,480.904 



Total 5,862,004 186,446 1,191,364 7,239,814 

Fourth Census, August I, 1820. 

Free States 5,030,371 102,893 19,108 5,152,372 

Slave States 2,842.340 135,434 1,524,580 4,502,224 



Total 7,872,711 238,197 1,543,688 9,654,506 

Fifth Census, June 1, 1830. 

Free States 6,876,620 137,529 3,568 7.017,717 

Slave States 3,660,758 182,070 2,005,475 5,848.303 



Total 10,537,378 319,599 2,009,043 12.866.020 

328 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Sixth Census, June I, 1840. 

Whiles. Free Colored. Slaves. Total. 

Free States 9,557,o6s 170,727 1,129 9,723,921 

Slave States 4,632,640 215,568 2,486,226 7,334,434 

Total 14,189,705 386,295 2,487,355 17,063,355 



SUMMARY OF THE CENSUS OF THE UNITED STATES, JUNE I, 184O 
Free or Non-Slaveholding States. 

States and Territories. Whites. Free Colored. Slaves. Total. 

Maine 500,438 1,355 .. 501,793 

New Hampshire 284,036 537 1 284,574 

Vermont 291,218 730 .. 291,948 

Massachusetts 729,030 8,668 . . 737.698 

Rhode Island 105,587 3,238 5 108,830 

Connecticut 301,856 8,105 17 309.978 

Total, New England 2,212,165 22,633 23 2,234,821 

New York 2,378,890 50,027 . . 2,428,921 

New Jersey 351,588 21,044 674 373,306 

Pennsylvania 1,676,115 47,854 64 1,724,033 

Ohio 1,502,122 17,342 3 1,519,467 

Indiana 678,698 7,165 3 685,866 

Illinois 472,254 3.598 331 476,183 

Michigan 211,560 707 ' .. 212,267 

Wisconsin 30,749 185 II 43, 112 

Iowa 42,924 172 16 30,945 

Total, Free States 9,557,o6s 170,727 1,129 9,728,921 



Slaveholding States. 

Delaware 58,561 16,919 2,605 78,085 

Maryland 318,204 62,078 89,737 470,019 

District of Columbia 30,657 8,361 4,694 43,7 J 2 

Virginia 740,968 49,842 448,987 1,239,797 

North Carolina 484,870 22,732 255,817 753419 

South Carolina 259,084 8,276 327,038 494,398 

Georgia 407,695 2,753 280,944 691,392 

Florida 27,943 817 25,717 54,477 

Alabama 335,i85 2,039 253,532 590,756 

Mississippi 179,074 1,369 195,211 375-654 

Louisiana 158,457 25,502 168,451 352,411 

Arkansas 77,174 465 19,935 97,574 

Tennessee 640,627 5,524 183,059 829,210 

Kentucky 590,253 7,3*7 182,258 779,828 

Missouri 323,888 1,574 58,240 383,702 

Total, Slave States 4,632,640 215,568 2,486,226 7,334,434 

Total, United States 14,189,705 386,295 2,487,355 17,063,355 

329 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

INDENTURED APPRENTICES, WHITE SLAVERY, AND REDEMPTIONERS 

Colored people were not the only class held in servitude by Pennsyl- 
vanians. Another form of slavery was carried on by speculators called New- 
landers. These traders- in " white people" were protected by custom and 
legal statutes. They ran vessels regularly to European seaports, and induced 
people to emigrate to Pennsylvania. By delay and expensive formalities these 
emigrants were systematically robbed during the trip of any money they 
might have, and upon their arrival at Philadelphia would be in a strange 
country, without money or friends to pay their passage or to lift their goods 
from the villanous captains and owners of these vessels which brought them 
to the wharves of Philadelphia. Imagine the destitute condition of these 
emigrants. Under the law of imprisonment for debt the captain or merchant 
either sold these people or imprisoned them. 

The Newlanders were the first German emigrants to Pennsylvania. Ac- 
tuated by sinister motives, the Newlander would return to Germany, and rely 
on his personal appearance and flattering tongue to mislead and induce all 
classes, from the minister down to the lowest strata of humanity, to migrate 
to the New World. The Newlanders would receive from the owner or cap- 
tain of a vessel a stipulated sum per passenger. By arts and representations 
the Newlander ingratiated himself into the confidence of the emigrant, 
securing possession of his property, and before taking passage the emigrant 
had to subscribe to a written contract in English, which enabled the New- 
lander the more fully to pluck his victim, for when the vessel arrived at 
Philadelphia the list of passengers and their agreements were placed in the 
hands of merchants. The Newlander managed it so that the emigrant would 
be in his debt, and then the poor foreigners had to be sold for debt. The 
merchants advertised the cargo ; the place of sale on the ship. The pur- 
chasers had to enter the ship, make the contract, take their purchase to the 
merchant and pav the price, and then legally bind die transaction before a 
magistrate. Unmarried people and young people, of course, were more 
readily sold, and brought better prices. Aged and decrepit persons were poor 
sale ; but if they had healthy children, these children were sold at good prices 
for the combined debt, and to different masters and in different States, per- 
haps never to see each other in this world. The parents then were turned 
loose to beg. The time of sale was from two to seven years for about fifty 
dollars of our money. The poor people on board the ship were prisoners, 
and could neither go ashore themselves or send their baggage until they paid 
what they did not owe. These captains made more money out of the deaths 
of their passengers than they did from the firing, as this gave them a chance 
to rob chests and sell children. This was a cruel, murdering trade. Every 
cruel device was resorted to in order to gain gold through the misfortune 
of these poor people. One John Stedman, in 1753, bought a license in Hol- 
land that no captain or merchant could load any passengers unless he had two 

330 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

thousand. He treated these deluded people so cruelly on ship-board that two 
thousand in less than one year were thrown overboard. This was monopoly. 

As will be seen in this chapter, under the head of advertisements, many 
of the leading merchants in Philadelphia were engaged in this nefarious 
business. In answer to the daily advertisements of " Redemptioners for 
Sale," citizens from all parts of Pennsylvania and adjoining States visited 
Philadelphia and bought these poor white people, the same as sheep and 
oxen. Many of the best families and people in this State are descendants of 
these " white slaves." We have some such descendants in Jefferson County 
and through the northwest. I could name them. 

Under this debasing system of indentured apprentices, the legal exist- 
ence of African slavery, and the legalized sale of white emigrants in our 
State, is it any wonder that among the people intemperance, illiteracy, lottery 
schemes for churches, gambling, and profanity were the rule, or that to the 
poor, the weak, and the wretched the prisons were the only homes or hospitals 
for them, and that the " driver's lash" fell alike on the back of the old and 
young, black and white, minister, school-master, and layman ? 

" I pity the mother, careworn and weary, 
As she thinks of her children about to be sold ; 
You may picture the bounds of the rock-girdled ocean, 
But the grief of that mother can never be told." 

ACT OF I7OO 

" AN ACT FOR THE BETTER REGULATION OF SERVANTS IN THIS PROVINCE AND 

TERRITORIES 

" For the just encouragement of servants in the discharge of their duty, 
and the prevention of their deserting their masters' or owners' service, Be 
it enacted, That no servant, bound to serve his or her time in this province, 
or counties annexed, shall be sold or disposed of to any person residing in 
any other province or government, without the consent of the said servant, 
and two Justices of the Peace of the county wherein he lives or is sold, under 
the penalty of ten pounds ; to be forfeited by the seller. 

" II. And be it further enacted, That no servant shall be assigned over 
to another person by any in this province or territories, but in the presence 
of one Justice of the Peace of the county, under the penalty of ten pounds; 
which penalty, with all others in this act expressed, shall be levied by distress 
and sale of goods of the party offending. 

" III. And be it enacted, That every servant that shall faithfully serve 
four years, or more, shall, at the expiration of their servitude, have a dis- 
charge, and shall be duly clothed with two complete suits of apparel, whereof 
one shall be new, and shall also be furnished with one new axe, one grubbing- 
hoe, and one weeding-hoe, at the charge of their master or mistress. 

33i 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" IV. And for prevention of servants quitting their masters' service, Be 
it enacted, That if any servant shall absent him or herself from the service of 
their master or owner for the space of one day or more, without leave first 
obtained for the same, every such servant shall, for every such day's absence, 
be obliged to serve five days, after the expiration of his or her time, and 
shall further make such satisfaction to his or her master or owner, for the 
damages and charges sustained by such absence, as the respective County 
Court shall see meet, who shall order as well the time to be served, as other 
recompense for damages sustained. 

" V. And whosoever shall apprehend or take up any runaway servant, 
and shall bring him or her to the Sheriff of the county, such person shall, 
for everv such servant, if taken up within ten miles of the servant's abode, 
receive ten shillings, and if ten miles or upwards, twenty shillings reward, 
of the said Sheriff, who is hereby required to pay the same, and forthwith 
to send notice to the master or owner, of whom he shall receive five shillings, 
prison fees, upon delivery of the said servant, together with all other disburse- 
ments and reasonable charges for and upon the same. 

" VI. And to prevent the clandestine employing of other men's servants, 
Be it enacted. That whosoever shall conceal any servant of this province or 
territories, or entertain him or her twenty-four hours, without his or her 
master's or owner's knowledge and consent, and shall not within the said 
time give an account thereof to some Justice of the Peace of the county, every 
such person shall forfeit twenty shillings for every day's concealment. And 
in case the said Justice shall not, within twenty-four hours after complaint 
made to him, issue his warrant, directed to the next constable, for apprehend- 
ing and seizing the said servant, and commit him or her to the custody of the 
Sheriff of the county, such Justice shall, for every such offence, forfeit five 
pounds. And the Sheriff shall by the first opportunity, after he has received 
the said servant, send notice thereof to his or her master or owner; and the 
said Sheriff, neglecting or omitting in any case to give notice to the master 
or owner of their servant being in his custody as aforesaid, shall forfeit five 
shillings for every day's neglect after an opportunity has offered, to be proved 
against him before the next County Court, and to be there adjudged. 

" VII. And for the more effectual discouragement of servants imbezzling 
their masters' or owners' goods, Be it enacted, That whosoever shall clan- 
destinely deal or traffic with any servant, white or black, for any kind of goods 
or merchandise, without leave or order from his or her master or owner, 
plainly signified or appearing, shall forfeit treble the value of such goods to 
the owner ; and the servant if a white, shall make satisfaction to his or her 
master or owner by servitude, after the expiration of his or her time, to 
double the value of the said goods ; And if the servant be a black, he or she 
shall be severely whipped, in the most public place of the township where the 
offence was committed." 

332 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

ACT OF I705 

" Section 2. Provided, That no person shall be kept in prison for debt 
or fines, longer than the second day of the next session after his or her com- 
mitment, unless the plaintiff shall make it appear that the person imprisoned 
hath some estate that he will not produce, in which case the court shall 
examine all persons suspected to be privy to the concealing of such estate ; 
and if no estate sufficient shall be found, the debtor shall make satisfaction by 
servitude to the judgment of the court where such action is tried (not exceed- 
ing seven years if a single person, and under the age of fifty and three years, 
or five years if a married man, and under the age of forty and six years) if 
the plaintiff require it ; but if the plaintiff refuse such manner of satisfaction, 
according to the judgment of the court as aforesaid, then and in such case the 
prisoner shall be discharged in open court. 

" Section 3. Provided, That nothing in this act contained shall be con- 
strued to subject any master of ship or other vessel, trading into this province 
from other parts, to make satisfaction for debt by servitude as above said." 

Up to 1842 this law of Pennsylvania authorized the imprisonment of 
men for debt. The act of July 12 of that year abolished such imprisonment. 
Quite a number of men were committed to the old jail in Brookville because 
of their inability to pay their debts. Sometimes their friends paid the debt 
for them, and sometimes they came out under the insolvent debtor's law. Be- 
low I give an exact copy of an execution issued by 'Squire Corbet, a justice 
of the peace in Brookville : 

" Jefferson County, ss. 

" The . Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to James Cochran, constable of 
borough, greeting: Whereas judgment against Stephen Tibbits for the sum 
of 5 dollars and 27 cents and the costs was had the 6th day of Jany, '39, before 
me, at the suit of Heath, Dunham & Co. : These are therefore in the name 
of the commonwealth, to command you to levy distress on the goods and 
chatties of the said Stephen Tibbits, and make sale thereof according to law 
to the amount of said debt and costs, and what may accrue thereon, and make 
return to me in twenty days from the date thereof ; and for want of goods 
and chattels whereon to levy, you are commanded to convey the body of said 
Stephen Tibbits to the jail of the said county, the jailer whereof is hereby 
commanded to receive the same, in safe custody to keep until the said debt 
and costs are paid, or otherwise discharged by due course of law. Given 
under my hand and seal the 15 day of May, 1841. 

" James Corbet." 

This execution was numbered 811. The debt was $5.27; interest, 60 
cents; justice's costs, 25 cents; execution and return, 2oj4 cents; total, 
$6.32^. The whole sum was paid May 26, 1841. 

333 



HISTORY OV NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

By the act passed April S. 17S5. entitled " An Act for establishing the 
office of .1 register of all German passengers who shall arrive at the port of 
Philadelphia, and of all indentures by which any of them shall be bound 
servants for their freight, and of the assignments of such servants in the city 
of Philadelphia," it was provided that the register should understand and 
speak both German and English languages, and that he could have "all the 
powers and authorities of a justice of the peaee, as far as the same shall he 
required tor the support and efficiency of his office, and the laws respecting 
the importation of German passengers and binding them out servants." All 
indentures and assignments to he made and acknowledged before the register 
01 his deputy, and he to register all indentures or assignments, as servants' 
indentures or assignments. 

Under the act for regulating the importation of German and other pas 
sengers, passed February -. 1S1S, the captain was compelled to give a hill 
of lading of merchandise to passengers, under a penalty of one hundred 
dollars. Passengers to be discharged on payment of freight. When passen- 
gers were sold for servitude, the indenture to be acknowledged before the 
mayor of the city of Philadelphia; "but no master, captain, owner, or con- 
signee of any ship or vessel shall separate an) husband and wife, who came 
passengers in any such ship or vessel, by disposing of them to different 
masters or mistresses, unless by mutual consent of such husband and wife; 
nor shall any passenger, without his or her consent, be disposed of to any 
person residing out of this Commonwealth, under the penalty of one hundred 
dollars." The goods of each passenger to be a pledge for freight. 

\\ VCT FOR THE RELIEF OK REDEMPTIOSTERS 

"Section 1 -V e a< e«i \ he Se ate and Mouse Representatives 

of ... .,..' . s-j Genero Isse '■ • •• . and it is 

... . ,v \ he .• - , the same, That the several provisions of 

an act of Assembly of this Commonwealth, passed the twenty-ninth day of 
Septembei »e thousand seven hundred and seventy, entitled ' An Act for 
the regulation of apprentices within this province," and of an act passed the 
eleventh da\ of April, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-nine, entitled 
a supplement to the act entitled ' An Act for the regulation of apprentices.' 
be and the same are herein extended to all Redemptioners bound to service 
for a term of years." Passed otb February, iSao 

\. t OF SEPTEMBER JO. 177O 

" SECTION t. All and even person or persons that shall be bound by 
indenture to serve an apprentice in any art. mystery, labour, or occupation, 
with the assent of bis or her parents, guardian or next friend, or with 
the assent of the overseers of the poor, and approbation of any two lus- 

334 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

tices, although such persons, or any of them, shall be within the age of 
twenty-one years at the time of making their several indentures, shall be 
bound to serve the time in their respective indentures contained, so as such 
time or term of years of such apprentice, if female, do expire at or before 
the age of eighteen years, and if a male, at or before the age of twenty-one 
years, as fully to all intents and purposes as if the same apprentices were 
of full age at the time of making the said indentures. 

" Section 2. If any master or mistress shall misuse, abuse, or evilly 
treat, or shall not discharge his or her duty toward his or her apprentice, 
according to the covenants in the indentures between them made, or if the 
said apprentice shall abscond or absent him or herself from his or her master's 
or mistress's service without leave, or shall not do and discharge his or her 
duty to his or her master or mistress, according to his or her covenants afore- 
said, the said master or mistress, or apprentice, being aggrieved in the prem- 
ises, shall or may apply to any one Justice of the Peace, of any county or city, 
where the said master or mistress shall reside, who, after giving due notice 
to such master or mistress, or apprentice, if he or she shall neglect or refuse 
to appear, shall thereupon issue his warrant for bringing him or her, the 
said master, mistress, or apprentice, before him, and take such order and 
direction, between the said master or mistress and apprentice, as the equity 
and justice of the case shall require : And if the said Justice shall not be able 
to' settle and accommodate the difference and dispute between the said master 
or mistress and apprentice, through a want of conformity in the master or 
mistress, then the said Justice shall take a recognizance of the said master or 
mistress, and bind him or her over, to appear and answer the complaint of 
his or her apprentice, at the next county court of Quarter Sessions, to be 
held for the said county or city, and take such order with respect to such 
apprentice as to him shall seem just; and if through want of conformity in the 
said apprentice he shall, if the master or mistress or apprentice request it, 
take recognizance of him or her with one sufficient surety, for his or her 
appearance at the said sessions, and to answer the complaint of his or her 
master or mistress, or commit such apprentice for want of such surety, to 
the common gaol or work-house of the said county or city respectively ; and 
upon such appearance of the parties and hearing of their respective proofs 
and allegations, the said court shall, and they are hereby authorized and 
empowered, if they see cause, to discharge the said apprentice of and from 
his or her apprenticeship, and of and from all and every the articles, cove- 
nants, and agreements in his or her said indenture contained ; but if default 
shall be found in the said apprentice, then the said court is hereby authorized 
and empowered to cause, if they see sufficient occasion, such punishment by 
imprisonment of the body, and confinement at hard labour, to be inflicted on 
him or her, as to them, in their discretion, they shall think his or her offence 
or offences shall deserve." 

335 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

ACT OF APRIL II, 1799 

" Section i. If any apprentice shall absent himself or herself from the 
service of his or her master or mistress, before the time of his or her appren- 
ticeship shall be expired, without leave first obtained, every such apprentice, 
at any time after he or she arrives at the age of twenty-one years, shall be 
liable to, and the master or mistress, their heirs, executors, or administrators, 
are hereby enabled to sustain all such actions, and other remedies against him 
or her, as if the said apprentice had been of full age at the time of executing 
his or her indenture of apprenticeship. 

" Section 2. When any master or mistress shall die before the term 
of apprenticeship shall be expired, the executors or administrators of such 
master or mistress, provided the term of the indenture extended to executors 
and administrators, shall and may have a right to assign over the remainder 
of the term of such apprenticeship to such suitable person of the same trade 
or calling mentioned in the indenture, as shall be approved of by the court of 
Quarter Sessions of the county where the master or mistress lived, and the 
assignee to have the same right to the service of such apprentice as the 
master or mistress had at the time of his or her death ; and also when any- 
master or mistress shall assign over his or her apprentice to any person of the 
same trade or calling mentioned in the indenture, the said assignment shall 
be legal, provided the terms of the indenture extended to assigns, and pro- 
vided the apprentice, or his or her parents, guardian or guardians, shall give 
his, her, or their consent to such assignment before some Justice of the Peace 
of the county where the master or mistress shall live." 

These advertisements are selected from a large number of a similar kind 
that are found in Relf's Philadelphia Gazette and Daily Advertiser for the 
years 1804-05 : 

" GERMAN REDEMFTIONERS 

" To be disposed of, the time of a number of German Redemptioners, 
consisting of Clerks, Shoemakers, Taylors, Cloth makers, Weavers, Stock- 
ing weavers, Blacksmiths, Watch makers, Miniature painters &c. on board 
the Ship Cato, Capt. Barden, from the river Jade, lying off Vine Street, apply 
to the captain on board Cato. 

" Smith Ridgway & Co. 
" No. 50 n. front street. 
" Nov. 3rd ( 1804) ." 

" TO BE DISPOSED OF 

" The Time of a German Servant Girl, who has eight years to serve. 
She is strong and hearty, understands Eng-lish, and can be well recommended. 
Enquire at No. 15 South Third Street. 

" January 9th, 1S05." 

336 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" GERMAN REDEMPTIONERS 

" A number of German Redemptioners of different ages and professions, 
to be disposed of on board ship Venus from Amsterdam. For terms apply on 
board, opposite Callowhill street. 

" Sept. 9th, 1805." 

" SWISS AND GERMAN PASSENGERS 

" The Time 
" Of the following passengers mostly farmers and a few mechanics, viz : 
17 men, 11 women, 13 boys and 14 girls now to be seen at the Spread Eagle 
Tavern, Callowhill street near the water, to be disposed of by their agents 
Winkleblick & Bund, at the Red Lion Tavern, Market Street, between 6 and 
7 street, South from 9 in the morning till 6 o'clock in the evening. The pay- 
ment to be made at the counting house of Mr. L. Huson, No. 19 South 
Wharves." 

" GERMAN REDEMPTIONERS 

" On board the ship Indostan laying in the stream above Vine street, 
consisting of carpenters, bakers, butchers, gardeners, blacksmiths, sugar re- 
finers, glass makers, taylors, servants &c. &c. whose times are to be disposed 
of, by 

" Isaac Hazelhurst & Sons. 

" April 16th 1804." 

" 20 DOLLARS REWARD 

" Ran away on Saturday last from the subscriber, a German indentured 
servant man, named Tobias Schwenck, a weaver by trade, about 25 years of 
age, about 5 feet 6 inches high. When he speaks he has a fashion of swing- 
ing his arms in a very passionate manner, pale face, slender made, light 
straight hair, speaks a little English ; took with him a tight body blue coat 
made in the German fashion, a blue surtout coat, two pair of Russia sheeting 
trousers, and a pair of blue velvet pantaloons, and a number of other clothing, 
a pair of new full boots broad round toed. 

" Whoever secures the above run-away in any gaol, or delivers him 
to the subscriber, shall receive the above reward and reasonable charges 
paid by 

" Henry Dotterer, 
" Sign of the Buck, Second street, Philadelphia. 

" Oct. 1804." 

" $2 DOLLARS REWARD 

" Ran away, an indentured Dutch servant girl, (the property of Richard 
Baily, near the 7 mile stone, Germantown) about 8 years of age, light com- 
plexion, named Maria, was dressed in a striped lindsey short gown and petti- 
coat, blue worsted stockings, and speaks but little of her native language. 
22 337 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

All persons are cautioned against detaining or harboring the said girl. In 
addition to the above reward, any reasonable expense will be allowed. 
■' Dec. 18th 1804." 

" $IO DOLLARS REWARD 

" Ran away from the subscriber living in the village of New-Holland, 
Lancaster County, on the evening of the 7th last, a German indentured ser- 
vant Girl, named Anna Maria Wagner, she came from Germany last fall in 
the brig Newton, Capt. Reilly. She is about 19 or 20 years old, of a low 
stature, she hath short and sandy hair, freckled face, her arms, hands, and 
feet, very small. Had on when she went away, a blue and white striped 
petticoat of German manufacture, and a blue jacket, which is remarkable, 
being lined after the German manner with whalebone. It is said that she 
hath a sister living in the neighborhood of Kutz town, Berks county, bound to 
Mr. Lesher. Whoever will secure and deliver her in any gaol, and give 
notice to the subscriber thereof, so that he maj' get her again, shall have the 
above reward, and reasonable charges paid. All persons are hereby fore- 
warned not to harbour her at their peril. 

" Jonathan Roland. 

" New-Holland, Jan. 3rd 1805." 

" In law, this system was known as an apprenticeship, or service entered 
into by a free person, voluntary, by contract for a term of years on wages 
advanced before the service was entered. The servants, by performing the 
service, were redeeming themselves, and therefore called ' Redemptioners.' In 
practice, however, with a certain class of people, and in instances hereinafter 
related, this system was as revoltingly brutal and degenerating as the negro 
slavery abolished in our own time in its worst aspects. 

" It was conceived and had its beginning in the harmless and in some 
respects benevolent idea to help a poor person in Europe who wished to emi- 
grate to America and had not the money to pay for his passage across the 
ocean, by giving him credit for his passage-money, on condition that he should 
work for it after his arrival here, by hiring as a servant for a term of years to 
a person who would advance him his wages by paying his passage-money to 
the owner or master of the vessel. 

" There are instances on record when school-teachers, and even ministers 
of the gospel, were in this manner bought by congregations to render their 
services in their respective offices. Laws were passed for the protection of the 
masters and of the servants. Whilst this is the bright side of the Redemption- 
ers' life, it had also a very dark side. The Redemptioners on their arrival here 
were not allowed to choose their masters nor kind of service most suitable to 
them. They were often separated from their family, the wife from the hus- 
band, and children from their parents ; were disposed of for the term of years, 
often at public sale, to masters living far apart, and always to the greatest 

338 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

advantage of the shipper. I have read many reports of the barbarous treat- 
ment they received, how they were literally worked to death, receiving in- 
sufficient food, scanty clothing, and poor lodging. Cruel punishments were 
inflicted on them for slight offences when they were at the mercy of a hard 
and brutal master. Their fellow black slave was often treated better, for 
he was a slave for life, and it was in the interest of the master to treat him 
well to preserve him, whilst the poor Redemptioner was a slave for a number 
of years only, and all his vital force was worked out of him during the years 
of his service. 

" No public records were kept of the contracts entered into abroad by the 
Redemptioners, nor of the time of the expiration of their service. The Re- 
demptioners were not furnished with duplicates of their contracts. They 
were sometimes, and could be, mortgaged, hired out for a shorter period, sold, 
and transferred like chattel by their masters. The Redemptioners belonging 
to the poor and most of them to the ignorant class, it is apparent that under 
these conditions they were at a great disadvantage against a rapacious master, 
who kept them in servitude after the expiration of their true contract time, 
claiming their services for a longer period. 

" For many years the Redemptioners in Maryland had come principally 
from England and Ireland. The abuses of the system having become known 
in England, rigorous laws and measures were adopted in England for their 
better protection, and letters and articles appeared in the newspapers warning 
the poor people from entering into these contracts. The first and early immi- 
gration of Germans came into Maryland from Pennsylvania. From Lancaster 
County it extended into Baltimore, Harford, Frederick, and the western coun- 
ties of our State. As wages advanced, the trade of shipping Redemptioners 
to the colony became highly lucrative. Large profits were made in a successful 
voyage with a full cargo of human beings, who, on their arrival here, were 
sold to the highest bidder for a term of years. 

" The Dutch, who, in 1620, had sent the first cargo of negro slaves to 
this country, and had amassed great wealth in the pursuit of the negro slave- 
trade from distant Africa, discovered that it was less troublesome and equally 
remunerative to engage in a sort of a white slave-trade, by shipping Redemp- 
tioners from their own country, Germany, Switzerland, and adjoining coun- 
tries, to the American colonies. The shipping merchants of Holland would 
send regular agents, or drummers, as we now would call them, who received 
one-half of a doubloon for every Redemptioner shipped by them into these 
colonies. These agents generally appeared in gaudy dress, with flourish of 
trumpets, and in glowing language depicted the wealth and' happiness of the 
people of this country, whereof all could partake if thev only would come 
here : that they did not need any money for their passage, as all they had to 
do was to sign a contract that on their arrival here they would pay for the 
same out of their first earnings. In this manner these agents would travel from 

339 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

village to village, deluding the poorest and most ignorant to follow them to 
the New Eldorado. 

" Whenever such an agent had collected a sufficient number, he would 
take them personally to the shipping harbor in Holland. It was a gay crowd 
which travelled in this manner in wagons across the country. The horses 
and wagons were decorated with gay ribbons, and joyous songs were heard 
from the emigrants, who believed they were leaving toil and poverty to go 
to the fabulously rich America to enjoy the ease and plenty of this world's 
goods. This spirit was artificially kept up by the liberality of the agent until 
they were safely aboard the ship. From thence such a life of suffering, priva- 
tion, and hardship commenced, that it seems incredible that the Christian 
nations of Europe and America should have permitted such a trade to flourish 
up to nearlv the end of the first quarter of the present century. I myself know 
several very old persons yet living in Baltimore who came to this country in 
this manner. The contracts which these Redemptioners had to sign in 
Holland, and which few of them then understood, contained the proviso that 
if any passenger died on the voyage, the surviving members of the family, or 
the surviving Redemptioner passengers, would make good his loss. Thereby 
a wife who had lost her husband during the sea-voyage, or her children, on her 
arrival here would be sold for five years for her own voyage and additional 
five more years for the passage-money of her dead husband or dead children, 
although they may have died in the very beginning of the voyage. If there 
were no members of the family surviving, the time of the dead was added to 
the time of service of the surviving fellow-passengers. The effects and 
property of the dead were confiscated and kept by the captain. By this the 
shipping merchant and the captain of the vessel would gain by the death of a 
part of the passengers, for the dead did not require any more food and pro- 
vision. It seems that many acted on this principle. The ships were often 
so overcrowded that a part of the passengers had to sleep on deck. Christoph 
Saur, in his petition to the governor of Pennsylvania in 1775, asserts that at 
times there were not more than twelve inches room for each passenger (I 
presume he means sleeping room below deck), and but half sufficient bread 
and water. Casper Wister. of Philadelphia, in 1752, writes, ' Last year a 
ship was twenty-four weeks at sea, and of the one hundred and fifty passengers 
on board thereof more than one hundred died of hunger and privation, and 
the survivors were imprisoned and compelled to pay the entire passage-money 
for themselves and the deceased.' In this year ten ships arrived in Philadel- 
phia with five thousand passengers. One ship was seventeen weeks at sea, 
and about sixty passengers thereof died. Christoph Saur. in 1758, estimates 
that two thousand of the passengers on the fifteen ships which arrived that 
vear died during the voyage. Heinrich Keppele, the first president of the 
German Society of Pennsylvania, writes in his diary that of the three hun- 
dred and twelve passengers on board of the ship wherein he crossed the 

340 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

ocean, two hundred and fifty died during the voyage. In February, 1775, 
Christoph Saur relates in his newspaper, ' Another ship has arrived. Of the 
four hundred passengers, not more than fifty are reported alive. They re- 
ceived their bread every two weeks. Some ate their portion in four, five, and 
six days, which should have lasted fifteen days. If they received no cooked 
victuals in eight days, their bread gave out the sooner, and as they had to 
wait until the fifteen days were over, they starved, unless they had money 
with which to buy of the mate flour at three pence sterling a pound, and a 
bottle of wine for seven kopstick thalers.' Then he relates how a man and 
his wife, who had ate their bread within eight days, crawled to the captain 
and begged him to throw them overboard, to relieve them of their misery, as 
they could not survive till bread-day. The captain refused to do it, and the 
mate in mockery gave them a bag filled with sand and coals. The man and 
his wife died of hunger before the bread-day arrived. But, notwithstanding, 
the survivors had to pay for the bread which the dead ought to have had. 
Pennsylvania, in 1765, at the instigation of the German Society, passed 
rigorous laws for the protection of the Redemptioners, but Maryland re- 
mained inactive until more than fifty years later." — Hennighausen. 

In Pennsylvania this traffic in white people continued until about 1831, 
when public sentiment compelled it to be discontinued. 

Fifty thousand white people were thus sold in Virginia, and many of 
them bartered for tobacco. 




CHAPTER XVII 



PIONEER .MONEY 



" The subject of a national mint for the United States was first intro- 
duced by Robert Morris, the patriot and financier of the Revolution. As 
head of the finance department, Mr. Morris was instructed by Congress 
to prepare a report on the foreign coins then in circulation in the United 
States. On the 15th of January, 1782, he laid before Congress an expo- 
sition of the whole subject. Accompanying this report was a plan for Ameri- 
can coinage. But it was mainly through his efforts, in connection with 
Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, that a mint was established in 
the early history of the Union of the States. On the 15th of April, 1790, 
Congress instructed the Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, to 
prepare and report a proper plan for the establishment of a national mint, 
and Mr. Hamilton presented his report at the next session. An act was 
framed establishing the mint, which finally passed both houses and received 
President Washington's approval April 2, 1792. 

" A lot of ground was purchased on Seventh Street near Arch, and 
appropriations were made for erecting the requisite buildings. An old still- 
house, which stood on the lot, had first to be removed. In an account-book 
of that time we find an entry on the 31st of July. 1792, of the sale of some 
old materials of the still-house for seven shillings and sixpence, which ' Mr. 
Rittenhouse directed should be laid out for punch in laying the foundation- 
stone." 

'" The first building erected in the United States for public use under 
the authority of the federal government was a structure for the United States 
Mint. This was a plain brick edifice, on the east side of Seventh Street near 
Arch, Philadelphia. Pennsylvania, the corner-stone of which was laid bv 
David Rittenhouse, director of the mint, on July 31, 1792. In the following 
October operations of coining commenced. It was occupied for about fortv 
years. On the 19th of May. 1829, an act was passed by Congress locating the 
United States Mint on its present site. 

" The first coinage of the United States was silver half-dimes, in Octo- 
ber, 1792, of which 'Washington makes mention in his address to Congress, 
on November 6. 1792. as follows: ' There has been a small beginning in the 
coinage of half-dimes, the want of small coins in circulation calling the first 
attention to them.' The first metal purchased for coinage was six pounds 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

of old copper at one shilling and three pence per pound, which was coined 
and delivered to the treasurer in 1793. The first deposit of silver bullion was 
made on July 18, 1794, by the Bank of Maryland. It consisted of ' coins of 
France,' amounting to eighty thousand seven hundred and fifteen dollars and 
seventy-three and a half cents. The first returns of silver coins to the treas- 
urer was made on October, 15, 1794. The first deposit of gold bullion for 
coinage was made by Moses Brown, merchant, of Boston, on February 12, 
1705; it was of gold ingots, worth two thousand two hundred and seventy- 
six dollars and seventy-two cents, which was paid for in silver coins. 

" The first return of gold coinage was on July 31, 1795, and consisted of 
seven hundred and forty-four half-eagles. The first delivery of eagles was 
on September 22, same year, and consisted of four hundred pieces. 

" Previous to the coinage of silver dollars at the Philadelphia Mint, in 
1794, the following amusing incidents occurred in Congress while the em- 
blems and devices proposed for the reverse field of that coin were being 
discussed. 

" A member of the House from the South bitterly opposed the choice 
of the eagle, on the ground of its being the ' king of birds,' and hence 
neither proper nor suitable to represent a nation whose institutions and in- 
terests were wholly inimical to monarchical forms of government. Judge 
Thatcher playfully, in reply, suggested that perhaps a goose might suit the 
gentleman, as it was a rather humble and republican bird, and would also be 
serviceable in other respects, as the goslings would answer to place upon the 
dimes. This answer created considerable merriment, and the irate Southerner, 
conceiving the humorous rejoinder as an insult, sent a challenge to the judge, 
who promptly declined it. The bearer, rather astonished, asked, ' Will you 
be branded as a coward ?' ' Certainly, if he pleases," replied Thatcher ; ' I 
always was one, and he knew it, or he would never have risked a challenge.' 
The affair occasioned much mirth, and, in due time, former existing- cordial 
relations were restored between the parties, the irritable Southerner concluding 
there was nothing to be gained in fighting with one who fired nothing but 
jokes. 

" Previous to the passage of the law by the federal government for regu- 
lating the coins of the United States, much perplexity arose from the use of 
no less than four different currencies or rates, at which one species of coin 
was recoined, in the different parts of the Union. Thus, in New Hampshire, 
Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, Virginia, and 
Kentucky the dollar was recoined at six shillings ; in New York and North 
Carolina at eight shillings ; in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland at 
seven shillings and six pence ; in Georgia and South Carolina at four shillings 
and eight pence. The subject had engaged the attention of the Congress of 
the old confederation, and the present system of the coins is formed upon the 
principles laid down in their resolution of 1786. by which the denominations 

343 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

of money of account were required to be dollars (the dollar to be the unit), 
dimes or tenths, cents or hundredths, and mills or thousandths of a dollar. 
Nothing can be more simple or convenient than this decimal subdivision. The 
terms are proper because they express the proportions which they are intended 
to designate. The dollar was wisely chosen, as it corresponded with the 
Spanish coin, with which we had been long- familiar." — G. G. Evans's History 
of the United States Mint. 

TABLE OF THE DENOMINATIONS OF UNITED STATES MONEY 

Standard Weight as established by Law 

Dwt. Gr. 

.I cent 3 12 

10 mills make 1 cent 7 00 

1 dime o 20^ 

10 cents make 1 dime 1 17 ,''■„ 

I dollar 4 S 

j dollar S 16 

to dimes make 1 dollar 17 S 

! eagle 2 16^ 

.' eagle 5 9 

to dollars make 1 eagle to tS 

The mills were imaginary and never coined. The old cents were made 
of copper, round, and about one inch in diameter and one-sixth of an inch 
in thickness. Silver 
years before Christ. 



in thickness. Silver was first coined into money eight hundred and sixtv-nine 



PIONEER BANKS 

The pioneer act of the Legislature of Pennsylvania regulating banks was 
passed March 21, 1813, but Governor Snyder vetoed the bill. On March 21, 
1S14, this bill was " log-rolled" through the Legislature and became a law 
over Governor Snyder's veto. Previous to that time banks were organized 
under articles of association. 

CURRENCY 

" The best currency of those times was New York bank-notes, and the 
poorest those of the Western banks. Pennsylvania bank-notes had only a 
small circulation in the country, and held a place in popular estimation inter- 
mediate between the above. There was a discount on all these, ranging from 
one to twenty per cent. It was for the interest of the private bankers to cir- 
culate the notes on which there was the largest discount, and as a consequence 
the county was flooded with the bills of banks the locations of which were 
hardly known. Every business man had to keep a ' Bank-Note Detector,' 
revised and published monthly or weekly, on hand, and was not sure then that 
the notes he accepted would not be pronounced worthless by the next mail. 

344 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

There was hardly a week without a bank failure, and nearly every man had 
bills of broken banks in his possession. To add to the perplexities of the 
situation, there were innumerable counterfeits which could with difficulty be 
distinguished from the genuine. Granting that the bank was good, and that 
the discount was properly figured, there was no assurance that the bill was 
what it purported to be. All this was a terrible annoyance and loss to the 
people, but it was a regular bonanza to the ' shaving-shops.' Even of the 
uncertain bank-notes there was not enough to do the business of the com- 
munity. Most of the buying and selling was done on long credit, and occa- 
sionally a manufacturing firm, to ease itself along and relieve the necessities 
of the public, would issue a mongrel coin, which went by the name of ' pewter- 
inctum.' " 

Up to i860 the business of the country was greatly carried on by a cur- 
rency of State banks, orders, and county orders, and the more you had of 
this money sometimes the poorer you were. We have now (1901) three 
thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight millionaires in the United States. 
Up to about i860 there were not more than six or seven millionaires in the 
country. Eighty-seven per cent, of our millionaires under our improved 
conditions, have built their own fortunes, and most of these from extreme 
poverty. 



c^gya &vfys s^/^vs g^ys g^ys g/*y® c^ys cv^ys g^ys 



CHAPTER XVIII 



"' SCOTCH-IRISH ORIGIN OF THE TERM UNDER JAMES I. LORDS AND LAIRDS 

EARLY SETTLERS IN PENNSYLVANIA 

SCOTCH-IRISH 

The term " Scotch-Irish" is so frequently used, particularly in Pennsyl- 
vania, and is so little understood, even by those who claim such relationship, 
that I consider it appropriate in this place to explain its derivation. In the 
time of James I. of England, the Irish earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnell con- 
spired against his government, fled from Ireland, were proclaimed outlaws, 
and their estates, consisting of about five hundred thousand acres of land, 
were seized by the crown. The king divided these lands into small tracts, 
and gave tracts to persons from his own country (Scotland), on the sole 
condition that each individual securing a tract of land should cross over into 
Ireland within four years and reside upon the land permanently. A second 
insurrection soon after gave occasion for another large forfeiture, and nearly 
six counties in the province of Ulster were confiscated and taken possession 
of by the officers of the crown. King James was a zealous sectarian, and his 
primary object was to root out the native Irish, who were all Catholics, hostile 
to his government, and almost continually plotting against it, and to populate 
Ireland with those from his own country (Scotland), whom he knew would 
be loyal to him. 

The distance from Scotland to County Antrim, in Ireland, was but twenty 
miles. The lands offered by James free of cost were among the best and most 
productive in the Emerald Isle, though they had been made barren by the 
strifes of the times and the indolence of a degraded peasantry. Having the 
power of the government to encourage and protect them, the inducements 
offered to the industrious Scotch could not be resisted. Thousands went over. 
Many of them, though not lords, were lairds, or those who held lands direct 
from the crown, and all were men of enterprise and energy, and above the 
average in intelligence. They went to work to restore the land to fruitfulness, 
and to show the superiority of their habits and belief compared with those of 
the natives among whom they settled. They soon made to blossom as a rose 
the counties of Antrim, Armagh, Caven, Donegal, Down, Fermanagh, Lon- 
donderry, Monaghan, and Tyrone, — all names familiar to Northwestern Penn- 
sylvania settlers. 

These were the first Protestants to settle in Ireland, and they at once 

346 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

secured the ascendency in the counties in which they settled, and their de- 
scendants have maintained that ascendency to the present time against the 
efforts of the Church of England on the one hand and the Roman Catholic 
Church on the other. These Scots refused to intermarry with the Irish who 
surrounded them. The Scotch were Saxon in blood and Presbyterian in 
religion, while the Irish were Celtic in blood and Roman Catholic in religion. 
These were elements that would not coalesce ; hence the races are as distinct 
in. Ireland to-day, after a lapse of more than two hundred and fifty years, as 
when the Scotch first crossed over. The term Scotch-Irish is purely American. 
It is not used in Ireland ; in the United States it is given to the Protestant 
emigrants from the north of Ireland, simply because they were descendants 
of the Scots who had in former times taken up their residence in Ireland. 

But few Scotch-Irish emigrants found their way to the Province of Penn- 
sylvania prior to 1719. Those that came in that year came from the north 
of Ireland. Subsequently the descendants of the Scots in Ireland were 
bitterly persecuted by the English government ; hence thousands of them 
migrated to and settled in Pennsylvania. In 1729, thousands of Scotch-Irish 
arrived in Philadelphia from Ireland, as well as some English, Welsh, and 
Scotch people, many of whom were sold in servitude for a term of from three 
to seven years, for about forty dollars each, to pay passage-money or for their 
goods. For a further description of this form of slavery, see chapter on 
German Redemptioners, p. 310. 

In September, 1736, one thousand Scotch-Irish families sailed from Bel- 
fast because of an inability to renew their land leases upon satisfactory terms, 
and the most of these people settled in the eastern and middle counties of 
Pennsylvania. By a change of residence they hoped to find an unrestrained 
field for the exercise of industry and skill, and for the enjoyment of religious 
opinions. They brought with them a hatred of oppression and a love of free- 
dom that served much to give that independent tone to the sentiments of the 
people of the province which prevailed in their controversies with the English 
government years before these Scots entertained a thought of American 
political independence. 

The Scotch-Irish who settled in the Cumberland Valley of Pennsylvania 
brought its fair lands under cultivation. They fought the savages and stood 
as a wall of fire against savage forays eastward. It is said that between 1771 
and 1773 over twenty-five thousand of these Scotch-Irish were driven from 
Ireland by the rapacity of Irish lairds or landlords, and located either in that 
rich valley or west of the Allegheny Mountains in Pennsylvania. This was 
just before the Revolutionary War, and while the angry controversies that 
preceded it were taking place between the colonists and the English govern- 
ment. Hence these Pennsylvanians were in just the right frame of mind to 
make them espouse to a man the side of the patriots. A Tory was unheard of 
among them. They were found as military leaders in all times of danger, and 

347 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

were among' the most prominent law-makers through and after the seven 
years' struggle for freedom and human rights. The Scotch-Irish in the 
United States have furnished Presidents, United States Senators, Congress- 
men, judges, and many others in civil as well as in all stations of life. 

The pioneers of Northwestern Pennsylvania were made up principally 
of these Scotch-Irish or their descendants. I am indebted to the " History 
of Franklin County. Pennsylvania." 1876, for the data and facts contained in 
this article. 




CHAPTER XIX 



THE COMMON SCHOOL SYSTEM ITS INCEPTION INTRODUCTION INTO AMERICA 

— STATE EFFORT HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN THE STATE — PROGRESS OF 

EDUCATION, ETC. 

As an introduction to this chapter, I cannot do better than reproduce an 
extract from a speech delivered by myself before a convention of Jefferson 
County school directors, — viz. : 

" Gentlemen of the Convention, — I thank you for this honor. I 
highly appreciate it. As the representatives of thirty-two school districts, 
two hundred and forty schools, and twelve thousand pupils, we have met this 
day to consider modes and methods by which we can best advance the cause 
of education. This is wise and patriotic. Perhaps it might be well as an 
introduction to our work to review a little history as to the origin and present 
status of our common schools. Martin Luther, a German, was the first to 
advocate the public school system. This he did in 1524, ably, vigorously, and 
boldly. He asserted that the ' government, as the natural guardian of all the 
voung, has the right to compel the people to support schools.' He further 
said, ' Now, nothing is more necessary than the training of those who are to 
come after us and bear rule.' The education of the young of all classes in 
free schools was one of the objects nearest Luther's heart. Scotland is the 
only other country of Europe that took an early interest in public school edu- 
cation. In 1560, John Knox urged the necessity of schools for the poor. 
These grand humane impulses of John Knox and other Scotch fathers have 
spread abroad, ' wide as the waters be,' only to germinate, bud, and bloom into 
the grandest social, theological, and political conditions ever attained by man. 
But it remained for the Puritan fathers of New England (America) to 
completely develop the common school system of our time. In New England 
education early made great progress. Under the eaves of their church the 
Puritans always built a school-house. As early as 1635, Boston had a school 
for 'the teaching of all children with us.' In 1647, Massachusetts made the 
support of schools compulsory and education universal and free by the enact- 
ment of the following law, — viz. : ' It is therefore ordered that every township 
in this jurisdiction, after the Lord hath increased them to the number of fifty 
householders, shall then forthwith appoint one within the town to teach all 
such children as shall resort to him to write and read, whose wages shall be 

349 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

paid either by the parents or masters of such children, or by the inhabitants 
in general by way of supply, as the major part of those who ordered the 
prudentials of the town shall appoint, provided those that send their children 
be not oppressed by paying much more than they can have them taught for 
in other towns.' In Connecticut, in 1665, every town that did not keep a school 
for three months in the year was liable to a fine. On April 1, a.d. 1834, one 
hundred and eighty-seven years later than the enactment of the common school 
law of Massachusetts, the law creating the common school system of Penn- 
sylvania was approved by George Wolf, governor. Our second State superin- 




Thomas H. Burrows 



tendent of public instruction was appointed under this law. His name was 
Thomas H. Burrows. 

" The foundation of our common school system was built by the con- 
vention to form a State constitution in 1790. The article as incorporated in 
that document reads as follows : 

Section i. The Legislature shall, as soon as conveniently may be, 
provided by law for the establishment of schools throughout the State, in such 
a manner that the poor may be taught gratis. 

Section 2. The arts and sciences shall be promoted in one or more 
seminaries of learning." 

" This educational article was also incorporated into the constitution 
of 1838. But little effort was made under the first constitution by legislative 
bodies to establish schools under the first section. Their only aim seemed to 

350 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

be to aid the churches and neighborhood schools to carry on the work they 
had been doing for a hundred years. The pioneer effort by the Legislature 
seems to have been in 1794, when, on December &, 1794, a committee was 
appointed by the House to report a proper mode of carrying into effect that 
part of the governor's message in regard to schools. The committee reported 
as follows : 

" ' Resolved, That schools may be established throughout the State, in 
such a manner that the poor may be taught gratis. 

' ' Resolved, That one-fifth part of the expense necessary to support the 
masters of said schools be paid out of the general funds of the State. 

" ' Resolved, That the remaining four-fifths of the said expense be paifl 
in each county, respectively, by means of a county tax. 

" ' Resolved, That the said schools be put under the direction of trustees 
in each county, subject to such limitations and regulations, as to the distribu- 
tion of their funds, the appointment of masters, and their general arrange- 
ments, as shall be provided by law. 

" ' Resolved, That the schools thus established shall be free schools, and 
that at least spelling, reading, writing, and arithmetic shall be taught therein. 

' ' Resolved, That ten thousand dollars a year be appropriated out of 
the funds of this Commonwealth to encourage the establishment of academies, 
in which grammar, the elements of mathematics, geography, and history shall 
be taught. 

' ' Resolved, That the said sum be apportioned amongst the city and 
several counties of the State in proportion to their respective population. 

" ' Resolved, That whenever a sum sufficient, with the addition of the 
sums proposed to be given by the public, to support an academy for the 
purpose aforesaid shall have been subscribed, or contributed, the additional 
sum of one hundred dollars a year shall be given out of the public treasury 
in aid of such academy. 

Resolved, That when the number of academies in any county shall be 
so great that the sum to which such county is entitled becomes insufficient to 
afford one. hundred dollars to each, it shall be divided by the trustees afore- 
said among the whole of such academies, in proportion to the number of 
masters employed and scholars taught, and the length of time in each during 
which each academy is so kept and supported. 

Resolved, That whenever a sum is subscribed and contributed suf- 
ficient, if added to the income of any of the inferior schools, to procure the 
instruction contemplated to be given in the academies, such school shall be- 
come an academy and receive the additional bounty of one hundred dollars 
as aforesaid, subject to a reduction in the manner aforesaid.' 

" A bill was prepared in accordance with these resolutions and passed 
both branches, but was lost in conference committee. This was forty years 
before the enactment of 1834." 

35i 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

THE PIONEER ACT 

On March I, 1802, Governor McKean approved the pioneer law of this 
State making a provision for the education of the poor, the title being " An 
Act to provide for the Education of Poor Children gratis." 

It was found that the act of 1802 was unsatisfactory, and, in the hope 
of betterment, an act of 1804 was passed entitled " An Act to provide for the 
more Effectual Education of the Children of the Poor gratis." 

Agitation and discussion over this law resulted in the act of 1809, better 
drawn, with the same title and aim. 

THE LAW OF 1809 
" AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE EDUCATION OF THE POOR GRATIS 

" Section i. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is 
hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That it shall be the duty of 
the Commissioners of the several counties within this Commonwealth, at 
the time of issuing their precepts to the assessors, annually to direct and 
require the assessor of each and every township, ward, and district to receive 
from the parents the names of all the children between the ages of five and 
twelve years who reside therein, and whose parents are unable to pay for their 
schooling; and the Commissioners when they hold appeals shall hear all per- 
sons who may apply for alterations or additions of names in the said list, and 
make all such alterations as to them shall appear just and reasonable, and 
agreeably to the true intent and meaning of this act; and after adjustment 
they shall transmit a correct copy thereof to the respective assessor, requiring 
him to inform the parents of the children therein contained that they are at 
liberty to send them to the most convenient school free of expense ; and the 
said assessor, for any neglect of the above duty, shall forfeit and pay the 
sum of five dollars, to be sued for by any person, and recovered as debts of 
that amount are now recoverable, and to be paid into the county treasury, for 
county purposes : Provided always, That the names of no children whose edu- 
cation is otherwise provided for shall be received by the assessors of any town- 
ship or district. 

" Section 2. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That 
the said assessor shall send a list of the names of the children aforesaid to the 
teachers of schools within his township, ward, or district, whose duty it shall 
be to teach all such children as may come to their schools in the same manner 
as other children are taught, and each teacher shall keep a day-book, in which 
he shall enter the number of days each child entitled to the provisions of this 
act shall be taught, and he shall also enter in said book the amount of all 
stationery furnished for the use of said child, from which book he shall make 
out his account against the county, on oath or affirmation, agreeably to the 

352 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

usual rates of charging for tuition in the said school, subject to the examina- 
tion and revision of the trustees of the school where there are any ; but where 
there are no trustees, to three reputable subscribers to the school ; which ac- 
count, after being so examined or revised, he shall present to the County 
Commissioners, who, if they approve thereof, shall draw their order on the 
county treasurer for the amount, which he is hereby authorized and directed 
to pav of any moneys in the treasury. 

" Approved — the fourth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and 
nine. 

" Simon Snyder." 

Each of these acts compelled parents to publish to the world their poverty 
and to send their children to school as paupers. 




mmWT 



■mm 




Governor Joseph Ritner 

The method of organizing schools and hiring masters under these laws 
was as follows : A school-meeting was called by a notice posted in the district. 
The inhabitants then met and elected in their own way three of their number 
to act as a committee or as trustees with power to hire a master or mistress, 
and this committee executed a supervision over the school. A rate bill was 
always made out by the master and handed to the committee, who collected 
the moneys and paid it to the master. 

The pioneer and early modes of school discipline were the cat-o'-nine- 
tails and the rod. carrying the offender on the back of a pupil and then 
2 3 353 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Bogging him, setting the boys with the girls and the girls with the boys. 
fastening a split stick to the oar or the nose, laying the scholar over the knee 
and applying the ferule to the part on which he sat. These punishments lasted 
for years after the common schools came into use. For the benefit of young 
teachers 1 will give the mode of correction. The masters invariably kept what 
was called toms, or. more vulgarly, cat-o'nine-iails. all luck being in odd 
numbers. This instrument of torture was an oaken stick about twelve inches 
long to which was attached a piece of raw-hide cut into strips, twisted while 
wer. and then dried. It was freely used for correction, and those who were 
thus corrected did not soon forget it, and not a few carried the marks during 
life. Another and no less cruel instrument was a green cow-hide. Comment 
upon the above is useless, as the words cruelty and barbarity will suggest 
themselves to the minds of all who read it. For our text-books we had Dil- 
worth's and the " United States Speller." and our readers were the good old 
Bible and Testament. The " Western Calculator" was all the arithmetic that 
was in use. and the one who got through the " rule of three" was called 
tolerably good in figures, and the lucky wight who got through the book was 
considered a graduate in mathematics. Grammar and geography were not 
taught in common schools, being considered higher branches. 

Not one of the governors of the State during the time the law of iSoo 
was in force believed it met the requirements of the constitution, hence in 
1S24 an act was passed repealing it and another one substituted. The new 
act was violently opposed, never went into effect, was repealed in 1S26, and 
the act of tSoo, was re-enacted. The policy enforced in our State for fifty 
years after the Revolutionary War was the endowment of academies and the 
free instruction of poor children in church and neighborhood schools. 

Coventor Wolf, in 1S33-34, made education the leading topic of his 
message. Among other things he said. — 

" To provide by law ' for the establishment of schools throughout the 
State, and in such a manner that the poor may be taught gratis.' is one of 
the public measures to which I feel it to be my duty now to call your attention. 
and most solemnly to press upon your consideration. Cur apathy and in- 
difference in reference to this subject becomes the more conspicuous when we 
reflect that whilst we are expending millions for the physical condition of the 
State, we have not hitherto appropriated a single dollar that is available for 
the intellectual improvement of its youth, which, in a moral and political 
point of view, is of tenfold more consequence, either as respects the moral 
influence of the State or its political power and safety. 

\.v ng to the returns of the last census, we have in Pennsylvania 
Ave hundred and eighty-one thousand one hundred and eighty children under 
the age of fifteen years, and one hundred and forty-nine thousand and eighty- 
nine between the ages of fifteen and twenty years, forming an aggregate of 
seven hundred and thirty thousand two hundred and sixty-nine juvenile per- 

SS4 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

sons of both sexes under the age of twenty seal's, most of them requiring more 
or less instruction. And yet with all tins numerous youthful population grow- 
ing- up around us, who, in a few years, are to be Our rulers and our law- 
givers, the defenders of our country and the pillars of the State, and upon 
whose education will depend in great measure the preservation of our liberties 
and the safety of the republic, we have neither schools established for their 
instruction nor provision made by law for establishing them as enjoined by 
the constitution." 

In 1827 William Audenrcid, then a senator from Schuylkill County, 
introduced a bill into the Senate, the title of which was, " To provide a Fund 
in support of a General System of Education in Pennsylvania." This bill 




Governor George Wolf 

passed the Senate that session, but was defeated in the House, but being 
urged and pressed every session it became a law on April 2, 1831. This law 
entitled Senator Audenrcid to be called the author of our school system. The 
law read as follows : 

" Section i. That there shall be and there hereby is established a fund, 
to be denominated a Common School Fund, and the Secretary of the Com- 
monwealth, the Auditor-General, and the Secretary of the Land-Office shall 
be Commissioners thereof, who, or a majority of them, in addition to the 
duties they now perform, shall receive and manage such moneys and other 
things as shall pertain to such fund, in the most advantageous manner, and 
shall receive and hold to the use of said fund all such gifts, grants, and dona- 

355 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

tions as ma} be made ; and dial said Commissioners shall keep a correct record 
of their proceedings, which, together with all papers and documents relative 
to said Fund, shall be kept and preserved in the office of the Auditor-General, 
"Section a. Thai From and after the passage of this act, all moneys 
duo and owing this Commonwealth h\ the holders of all unpatented lauds; 
also all moneys secured to the Commonwealth b\ mortgages or lions on laud 
for the purchase monej of the same; also all moneys paid to the State Treas- 
urer on an\ application hereafter entered, or any warrant hereafter granted 
for land, as also foos received in the land office, as well as all moneys received 
in pursuance of the provisions ^i the fourth section of an act entitled ' An 
Act to increase the Count} Rates and Levies for the Use of the Common- 
wealth," approved the twent} fifth day of March, [S31, be and the same are 
hereb\ transferred and assigned to the Common School Fund; and thai at 
die expiration oi twelve months after the passage of this act, and regular!} 
at the expiration oi even twelve months thereafter, the State Treasurer shall 



r* W- .iS? %/ ^ ^ '-^U*Vy*fc • ' V ■ " 




I'kmkv: school llOHSC 



report to the said Commissioners the amount of money thus received by him 
during the twelve months last preceding, together with a certificate of the 
amount thereof, and that the same is held hy the Commonwealth for the use 
of the Common School Fund, at an interest of five per cent. 

" SECTION 3, That the interest of the moneys belonging to said fund 
shall be added to the principal as it becomes due, and the whole amount thereof 
shall be held by the Commonwealth, and remain subject to the provisions of 
an act entitled ' An Act relative to the Pennsylvania Canal and Railroad.' 
approved the tweim -second of April. 1829, until the interest thereof shall 
amount to the sum of one hundred thousand dollars annually, after which the 
interest shall be annually distributed and applied to the support of common 
schools throughout this Commonwealth, in such a manner as shall hereafter 
he provided by law." 

In 18^4 there were four thousand school-cabins like the accompanying 

356 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

illustration in Pennsylvania, buill on the neighborhood plan under the law of 
l. Six j. 

About those little school-houses were formed many ties which bound 
men and women together as friends in long succeeding years. Around those 
little temples of learning I have seen 

The hoop, the bow and arrow, 

I In- soaring of the kite and swing, 
'I In- humming of the 'over ball,' 

And the marbles in the ring; 
Tht sleds, i In- rope, aiul sliding-boards, 

The races down I he yard. 
And the war of snow-ball armies, 

The victors and the scarred." 

The creation of the common schools in Pennsylvania was not the work 
of any one man or sel of men, nor was il imported from any oilier State. Il 




llun. Thaddcus sic-v 



was the outgrowth of freedom. In a hook like mine I cannot enumerate all 
the glorious workers in the fight. The Pennsylvania Society for the Promo- 
tion of Public Schools, organized in Philadelphia in 1827, was a great factor 
in the work. Senator Audenreid, Dr. .Anderson, and Senator Smith, of Dela- 
ware County; N. B. Fetterman, of I'.edford ; Samuel lireck, a senator from 
Philadelphia; and Thaddeus Stevens, all deserve to lie forever remembered 
for their able and untiring labor in this direction. 

357 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

The pioneer school in the United States for the education of teachers 
was the model school of Philadelphia, established and opened in 1838. The 
finest and most costly educational structures in the world are the Girard Col- 
lege buildings in Philadelphia. The pioneer law enacted in the interest of 
female education was by "New York State in 1S18. The first female assistant 
iti a seminary was in 1S22. 

In the session of 1834. Samuel Breck, a senator from Philadelphia, was 
made chairman of a joint committee on education. The members of this 
committee on the part of the Senate were Samuel Breck, Charles B. Penrose, 
William Jackson, Almon U. Read, and William Boyd; of the House. Samuel 
Anderson. William Patterson, James Thompson. James Clarke. John Wie- 
gand, Thomas 11. Crawford, and Wilmer Worthington. This committee 
secured all possible information on the subject from all sources. The author 
of the bill as passed was Samuel Breck. It was bur little discussed and met 
with but little opposition in the Legislature. 

COMMON SCHOOl NOTICE 

" For the purpose of settling controversies, of collecting and imparting 
information connected with the Common School System, so as to produce 
harmony and vigor in every department of its operations, the Superintendent 
will be at the county towns mentioned in the following lists on the days 
therein designated at ten o'clock a.m. 

" Directors. Teachers, and all others who may have business to transact 
with the Superintendent, under the 4th paragraph of loth section of the 
school law. will meet him at their proper county towns on the days respec- 
tively named. As the chain of appointments now made will not admit of 
more than one day's delay at each place, early and punctual attendance is 
earnestly requested. 

" Heaver. Wednesday, August 23. Butler. Friday, August 25. Mercer. 
Monday, August 2S. Meadville, Wednesday. August 30. Erie, Saturday. 
September 3, Franklin, Monday. September II. Brookville. Thursday. 
September 14. 

" rnos. H. Burrows, 
S v .V Cow went Scho< .. 

'* Secretary's Office, Harkishcki;. July 1S. iS,;- 

I'HF l AW OF \S^4 ANP VIS WOKKINOS 

"WHEREAS, It is enjoined by the constitution, as a solemn duty which 
cannot be neglected without a disregard of the moral and political safety of the 
people : and 

" WHEREAS, The fund for the common school purposes, under the act 
the ad of April. lS3I, will, on the 4th of April next, amount to the sum 



HISTORY OK NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

of $546,563.72; and will soon reach the sum of $2,000,000, when it will pro- 
duce at five per cent an increase of $100,000, which, by said act, is to be paid 
for the support of common schools; and 

" WHEREAS, Provisions should be made by law for the distribution of 
the benefits of this fund to the people of the respective counties of the Com- 
monwealth ; therefore, 

" Section 1. Be it enacted, etc., That the city and county of Philadel- 
phia, and every other county in this Commonwealth, shall each form a school 
division, and that every ward, township, and borough, within the several 
school divisions, shall each form a school district. 

" Section 2. It shall be the duty of the sheriff of each county, thirty 
days previous to the third Friday in September of the current year, 1834, to 
give notice, by proclamation, to the citizens of each school district to hold 
elections in their respective townships, wards, and boroughs at the places 
where they hold their elections for supervisors, town councils, and constables, 
to choose six citizens, of each school district, to serve as school directors of 
said districts respectively; which elections shall, on the said day, be conducted 
and held in the same manner as elections for supervisors and constables are 
by law held and conducted ; and on the day of the next annual election of 
supervisors in the respective townships, and of constables in the respective 
cities of the Commonwealth, a new election for directors shall take place in 
the said townships, boroughs, and cities, at which election, and annually there- 
after at that time, and in manner and form aforesaid, two directors shall be 
chosen, who shall serve for three years ; the sheriff giving thirty days' notice 
previous to such election." 

The law of 1831, of Senator Audenreid, is the foundation-stone, and that 
of 1834 and the act of 1837 completed our common school system, erroneously 
called " the free school system:" 

The pioneer and early State appropriations to the common schools were 
as follows: 1835 and 1836, each, $75,000; 1837, $700,000; 1838, 1839, 1840, 
each, $108,919; 1 84 1, $330,000; 1842, $200,000; 1843, $250,000 ; 1844,1845, 
1846, 1847, 1848, 1849, 1850, 1851, 1852, 1853, each, $200,000; 1854, 1855, 
each, $230,000 ; 1856, $231,500; 1857, 1858, 1859, i860, 1861, each, $280,000. 

teacher's institute and academies 

The pioneer Teachers' Institute in the United States was held in Connec- 
ticut in 1839; nl New York in 1842; and in Massachusetts and Ohio in 1845. 

The pioneer institute in Pennsylvania was in Lawrence County for one 
week, October 27, 185 1. 

Tn Crawford County a female seminary was incorporated at Meadvillc, 
in 1802. In 1806 the State gave one thousand dollars. 

At New Castle, Lawrence County, a female seminary was chartered in 
1838, and flourished for ten years. 

359 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

The Tioga County Academy was incorporated in 1817. and received 
State aid. 

Smethport Academy, in Mckean County, was chartered in 1821), but not 
opened until 1837. 

Mercer Academy was chartered in 1811. 

I 'otter County Academy was incorporated in 1838. 

Venango Academy was chartered in 1S12 ; building erected in 1815. 

Warren County Academy was chartered in 1822. The first building was 
one story. The second building was erected in (834—35. 

It was the rule in this wilderness for any boy who wished an education 
to attend the winter term of school at home until fit to teach a country school, 
then to teach in winter and work in summer until he could earn and save 
enough money to attend an academy. Well, hut how did he get to the 
academy: Why he simply walked a hundred miles or more it necessary. 




cvravd fevrayd ««i «^y» cvnd tni «o* «0* «^My* 
?wta ew ?w« e»9 edK» e-Ov» edte »0^ ed*» 



CHAPTER XX 



STATISTICS OF 184O 

In 1840 there were in the northwest purchase but nine erected and com- 
plete counties, — to wit, Butler, Crawford, Jefferson, McKean, Mercer, Potter, 
Tioga, Venango, and Warren. Butler County had twenty-two thousand three 
hundred and seventy-one people, and the county contained fifteen towns, 
townships, and boroughs, — to wit, Buffalo, Clearfield, Donegal, Centre, 
Parker, Venango, Mercer, Middlesex, Cherry, Slippery Rock, Butler Borough, 
Butler, Muddy Creek, Conoquenessing, and Cranberry. In that year Butler 
County had three charcoal furnaces, with an output of six hundred and twenty- 
five tons. The amount of coal mined in the count}- was one hundred and two 
thousand three hundred bushels ; number of miners employed, thirty-one. 
Retail stores in the county, fifty-five, with a capital of $172,850. Value of 
hats and caps manufactured in the county, $3750. Number of tanneries, 
twenty-two ; number of men employed, thirty-one. Number of distilleries, 
thirteen. Number of breweries, two. Number of printing-offices, two. Num- 
ber of oil-mills, four. Number of saw-mills, sixty-four. Number of grist- 
mills, fifty-four. 

CRA W FORD CO U NT Y 

in 1840 Crawford County had thirty-seven thousand seven hundred and 
twenty-four people, and the county contained twenty-seven towns, townships, 
and boroughs, — to wit. South Shenango, Greenwood, Venango, Fallowfield, 
Randolph, Woodcock, Vernon, Mead, Summerhill, Sadsbury, Meadville 
Borough, Sparta, Oil Creek, Richmond, Rome Cossawago, Beaver, Wayne, 
Bloomfield, Rockdale, Athens. Troy, Hayfield, Spring, Couneaut, Fairfield, 
and North Shenango. In that year Crawford County had two charcoal fur- 
naces. The coal output was two thousand tons ; number of miners employed, 
six. Retail stores in the county, sixty-two, with a capital of $196,200. Value 
of hats and caps manufactured, four thousand. Number of tanneries, four- 
teen ; number of men employed twenty-six. Number of distilleries, fourteen. 
Number of breweries, one. Number of paper-mills, two. Number of print- 
ing-offices, two. Number of grist-mills, thirty-nine. Number of saw-mills, 
one hundred and twenty-nine. Number of oil-mills, two. These were flax- 
seed mills, making linseed oil. These mills were quite numerous in North- 
western Pennsylvania, and an industry of importance and profit. 

361 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

JEFFERSON COUNTY 

In 1840 Jefferson County had seven thousand two hundred and fifty-three 
people, and the county contained thirteen towns, townships, and boroughs, — 
to wit, Brookville Borough, Rose, Washington, Snyder, Ridgway, Eldred, 
Tionesta, Barnett, Jenks, Pine Creek, Porter, Perry, and Young. The output 
of coal that year was two thousand five hundred tons ; number of miners 
employed, two. The total sale of furs and pelts was $1029. Number of 
tanneries, six ; number of men employed, seven. Number of distilleries, two. 
Number of grist-mills, fourteen. Number of saw-mills, sixty-eight. Number 
of stores, nineteen. Maple sugar, twenty seven thousand and sixty-seven 
pounds. Value of lumber output, $50,603. 



M'KEAN COUNTY 

In 1840 McKean County had two thousand nine hundred and seventy- 
five people, and the count}' contained nine towns, townships, and boroughs, 
— to wit, Keating, Ceres, Bradford, Corydon, Sergeant, Liberty, Norwich, 
Shippen, and Hamilton. The amount of coal mined that year was one thou- 
sand bushels; number of miners employed, two. Salt manufactured, one 
thousand bushels; number of men employed, two. Number of retail stores, 
ten; amount of capital invested, $28,100. Total value of lumber, $88,700. 
Sale of furs and pelts, $963. Number of tanneries, two; number of men 
employed, four. Number of grist-mills, nine. Number of saw-mills, thirty- 
three. Maple sugar manufactured, sixty-nine thousand seven hundred and 
fifty pounds. 

MERCER COUNTY 

In 1840 Mercer County had thirty-two thousand eight hundred and sev- 
enty-three people, and the county contained nineteen towns, townships, and 
boroughs, — to wit, Springfield, West Salem, Pymatuning, Delaware, Wolf 
Creek, Hickory, Slippery Rock, Salem, West Greenville, Mahoning, Neshan- 
nock, New Castle Borough, Shenango, Lackawannock, Cool Spring, Sandy 
Lake, French Creek, Dandy Creek, and Mercer Borough. In that year Mercer 
County had four charcoal furnaces ; total output of iron, fifty-nine tons. Total 
output of coal mined, one hundred and forty-one thousand eight hundred and 
sixty tons ; number of men employed, twenty-one. Maple sugar manufac- 
tured, one hundred and twenty-one thousand two hundred and fourteen pounds. 
Retail stores, ninety-three ; capital invested, $214,893. Value of hats and 
caps manufactured, $6770. Number of tanneries, thirty-five ; number of men 
employed, one hundred and thirty-one. Number of distilleries, twelve. Num- 
ber of printing-offices, one. Number of grist-mills, seventy-three. Number 
of saw-mills, one hundred and twenty-eight. Number of oil-mills, two. 

362 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

POTTER COUNTY 

In 1840 Potter County had three thousand three hundred and seventy-one 
people, and the county contained fifteen towns, townships, and boroughs, — 
to wit, Eulalia, Harrison, Bingham, Ulysses, Alleghany, Genesee, Sharon, 
Hebron, Oswego, Clara, Sweden, Wharton, Roulette, Hector, and Pike. In 
that year the output of coal was one hundred bushels. Maple sugar manu- 
factured, one hundred and three thousand one hundred and ninety-nine 
pounds. Retail stores, six; capital invested, $11,700. Value of lumber 
products, $25,038. Number of tanneries, one ; number of men employed, two. 
Number of printing-offices, one. Number of grist-mills, eight. Number of 
saw-mills, thirty. Value of furs and pelts, $855. 

TIOGA COUNTY 

In 1840 Tioga County had fifteen thousand four hundred and ninety- 
eight people, and contained twenty-one towns, townships, and boroughs, — to 
wit, Jackson, Liberty, Union, Middlebury, Morris, Delmar, Tioga, Lawrence, 
Elkland, Farmington, Chatham, Westfield, Rutland, Sullivan, Richmond, 
Covington, Charleston, Shippen, Deerfield, Brookfield, and Gaines. In that 
year the output of coal was thirty-six thousand bushels; number of men 
employed, one hundred and four. Maple sugar manufactured, one hundred 
and eighty-one thousand and sixty-four pounds. Retail stores, fifty two ; 
capital invested, $111,800. Value of lumber produced, $37,189. Number of 
tanneries, thirteen; number of men employed, thirty-three. Number of dis- 
tilleries, two. Number of printing-offices, two. Number of grist-mills, twenty- 
six. Number of saw-mills, one hundred and forty-five. Number of oil- 
mills, one. Value of pelts and furs, $1415. 

VENANGO COUNTY 

In 1840 Venango County had seventeen thousand nine hundred people, 
and contained twenty towns, townships, and boroughs, — to wit, Scrubgrass, 
Irwin, Sandy Creek, Paint, Farmington, Tionesta, Corn Planter, French 
Creek, Cherry Tree, Richland, Beaver, Sugar Creek, Plum, Pine Grove, 
Alleghany, Canal, Rockland, Cranberry, Elk, and Franklin Borough. In that 
year Venango County had sixteen charcoal furnaces. One bloomary, with an 
output of cast-iron of six thousand five hundred and forty-six tons, and of 
bar iron of two hundred and eight tons. Coal mined, thirty thousand three 
hundred tons ; number of men employed, fourteen. Maple sugar manufac- 
tured, seventeen thousand five hundred and sixty-one pounds. Retail stores, 
forty-three; capital invested, $120,000. Lumber products, $24,204. Value of 
hats and caps manufactured, $1200; number of people employed, five. Num- 
ber of tanneries, seventeen ; number of men employed, twenty. Number of 
distilleries, four ; number of men employed, four. Number of printing- 

363 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

offices, one. Number of grist-mills, forty-nine. Number of saw-mills, fifty- 
nine. Number of oil-mills, two. Value of furs and pelts, $746. 

WARREN COUNTY 

In 1840 Warren County had nine thousand two hundred and seventy-eight 
people, and contained fifteen towns, townships, and boroughs, — to wit, Warren 
Borough, Connewango, Broken Straw, Columbus, Sugar Grove, Pine Grove, 
Freehold, Elk, Spring Creek, Deerfield, Kinzua, Pleasant, Southwest, Shef- 
field, and Limestone. In that year Warren County had three charcoal fur- 
naces, with an output of thirty tons. Coal mined, seven hundred and fifty 
bushels ; miners employed, one, in Elk Township. Maple sugar manufac- 
tured, ninety-one thousand three hundred and eighteen pounds. Retail stores, 
twenty-eight ; capital invested, $65,750. Value of lumber produced, $88,062. 
Furs and pelts, $513. Hats, caps, and bonnets manufactured, $2200. Number 
of tanneries, six ; number of men employed, ten. Number of printing-offices, 
two. Number of grist-mills, sixteen. Number of saw-mills, one hundred 
and twenty-three. Number of barrels of flour manufactured, five hundred. 

NEGRO SLAVERY IN NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA. CENSUS RETURNS 
County. 1S10. 1S20. 1S30. 

Butler . . 4 

Crawford 2 

Jefferson . . 1 

McKean 1 

Mercer 3 1 6 

Potter 

Tioga 

Venango . . 3 

Warren 

In 1809 James G. Heron, who lived in Franklin, had two slaves, both 
negro girls. 

In 1807 Collender Irvine had one slave, Black Tom, in Warren County. 

In 1802 William Hillis Wells settled near Wellsboro, Tioga County, and 
brought with him four slaves. 

William Avers had one slave in Potter County from 1808 to 1814. 

In 1808 there were six hundred and five negro slaves in Pennsylvania. 
The pioneer court records of Crawford County contained such items as the 
following: "William Davis, farmer, of Mead Township, Crawford County, 
returns to the Clerk of the Peace of Crawford County, one female mulatto 
child, Dinah, born^on the 25th of April last, of his negro woman Vine, Octo- 
ber 28, 1802." 

The Crawford Messenger, of December 24, 1831, has an advertisement for 
the sale of a colored boy, who is twelve years old. 

The negro slave in Jefferson County in 1830 was named Sam, and was a 

364 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

miller. He belonged to James Parks, whose mill was near where Christ"s 
brewery now is. In 1824 Sam was assessed at fifty dollars. In 1829 he was 
assessed at one hundred dollars. 

In 1833 one negro slave was assessed in Brookville to William Jack. — 
to wit, one boy of color, worth forty dollars. 

In 1836 Rev. Jesse Smith, a Presbyterian minister, living one mile north 
from where Corsica, Jefferson County, now is, was assessed with one mulatto, 
valuation fifty dollars. 

The pioneer slave in Mercer County was in Sand)' Lake Township in 
1801. The pioneer will recorded in Mercer County was that of John Calvin, 
in 1804, of Salem Township. In this will he bequeathed a mulatto to his wife. 
John Sheakley migrated from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to Sandy Creek 
Township, Mercer County, in 1804., bringing with him four negro slaves. — 
viz., Sam, Steve, Phoebe, and Hannah. Phcebe had two children born in slavery 
in Mercer County, — to wit, Ben and Rose. John Sheakle)' died in 1816, and 
in his will he bequeathed a mulatto girl to his wife ; all of his other slaves 
were then free. John Young lived on Indian Run, in Springfield Township. 
He owned slaves; how many is not known. In his will of April 20, 1825, he 
says. " I do will that Peg, the old wench, is to be supported out of my farm, 
left to John and David." Peg had two children born in slavery in Mercer 
County, — to wit, Robert Johnson and Sallie Johnson. Robert worked at shoe- 
making after his freedom. 

PIONEER ADVERTISEMENT IN PENNSYLVANIA IN SLAVERY DAYS 

" 2 s. (shillings) reward 
" Ran away on the 2d inst. negro man John, about 22 ; also negro girl 
named Flora, about 18, slender made, speaks bad English and a little French. 
Has a scar on her upper lip and letters branded on her breast. Whoever 
secures the runaways in any place where their master can get them shall 
have the above reward and reasonable charges paid by 

" John Patto.v. 
" Centre Furnace, Mifflin County, July 26, 1799." 

Thank God this cruel slavery, which existed once in Pennsylvania, is 
forever wiped out in these United States ! There is now no master's call, 
no driver's lash, no auction-block on which to sell, and no bloodhounds to 
hunt men and women fugitives not from justice, but fugitives for justice. 
Thank God for John Brown, and may "his soul go marching on!" 

John Brown was born in Torrington, Connecticut, May 9, 1800. He 
was found in this wilderness June 21, 1820, and settled in Richmond Town- 
ship, Crawford County, in 1826, and engaged in tanning, farming, and sheep- 
raising avocations. 

In 1832 he married Marv A. Day, of Meadville. He was a strict Pres- 

365 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

byterian until the day of his execution. The year 1800 began with nine 
hundred thousand slaves in the United States. The year 1900 closed with- 
out one. 

REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS 

Patriots of the Revolutionary War settled in every county in North- 
western Pennsylvania. In the counties where the "donation lands" were 
located, they settled in quite large numbers. I deem it my duty to the de- 
scendants of these patriots to give the pay received by their ancestors for 
services in the Continental army. 

The first pay schedule was set forth in the Act of April 12, 1785, which 
fixed the pay of an infantry private at four dollars a month. By the Act of 
April 30, 1790, the pay was reduced to three dollars a month. The Act of 
January 1, 1795, again made it four dollars, at which it remained for three 
years, but by the Act of July 17, 1798, when we were preparing for a war with 
France, it was raised to five dollars. It remained at this for fourteen years. 

By the Act of December 12, 1812, when an army had to be raised for the 
second war with England, the pay was raised to eight dollars. It remained 
at this during the war, but as soon as peace came the Act of March 3, 18 15, 
reduced it to five dollars again. It remained at this for eighteen years, when 
the Act of March 2, 1833, raised it to six dollars. The Act of July 7, 1838, 
raised it to seven dollars, where it remained for sixteen years, and all through 
the Mexican War. 

In 1785 the pay of a lieutenant-colonel commanding — ranking with a 
colonel now — was only sixty dollars a month. 

In 1785 a lieutenant-colonel received fifty dollars a month. 

In 1785 a major received forty-five dollars a month. 

In 1785 a captain was paid thirty-five dollars a month. 

In 1785 a first lieutenant received twenty-six dollars a month. 

In 1785 a second lieutenant received twenty dollars a month. 

INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES 

On October 23, 1819, was the " dark day." Between nine and ten o'clock 
in the morning the darkness was so great that the pioneer had to light his 
old lamp or blaze his pitch-pine knot. 

In January, 1828, there was a great flood; and also a great one on 
February 10, 1832. 

In 1816, or the year without a summer, frost occurred in every month. 
Ice formed half an inch thick in May. Snow fell to the depth of three inches 
in June. Ice was formed to the thickness of a common window-glass on July 
5. Indian corn was so frozen that the greater part was cut in August and 
dried for fodder; and the pioneers supplied from the corn of 181 5 for the 
seeding of the spring of 1817. 

In 1809 Fulton patented the steamboat. 

366 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

The pioneer steam-vessels that made regular trips across the Atlantic 
Ocean were the " Sirius" and " Great Western" in the year 1830. 

The pioneer use of gas for practical illumination was in 1802. 

The pioneer mill to make finished cloth from raw cotton was erected 
in Waltham, Massachusetts, in 1813. 

In 1807 wooden clocks were made by machinery. 

The anthracite coal business was established about 1820. 

In 1836 matches were patented. 

" The first practical friction matches were made in 1827 by an English 
apothecary named Walker, who coated splints of card-board with sulphur 
and tipped them with a mixture of sulphate of antimony, chlorate of potash, 
and gum. A box of eighty-four matches sold for one cent, a piece of glass- 
paper being furnished with it for obtaining ignition. In 1830 a London man 
named Jones devised a species of match which was a little roll of paper 
soaked in chlorate of potash and sugar, with a thin glass globule filled with 
sulphuric acid attached to one end. The globule being broken, the acid 
acted upon the potash and sugar, producing fire. Phosphorus matches were 
first introduced on a commercial scale in 1833, and after that improvements 
were rapid. 

" The modern lucifer match combines in one instrument arrangements 
for creating a spark, catching it on tinder, and starting a blaze, — steps 
requiring separate operations in primitive contrivances. It was in 1836 
that the first United States patent for friction matches was issued. Splints 
for them were made by sawing or splitting blocks of wood into slivers 
slightly attached at the base. These were known as ' slab' or ' block' matches, 
and they are in use in parts of this country to-day." 

The pioneer strike in America was that of the journeymen boot-makers 
of Philadelphia in 1796. The men struck, or " turned out," as they phrased 
it, for an increase of wages. After two weeks' suspension of trade their 
demands were granted, and this success gained them greater strength and 
popularity, so that when they "turned out" in 1798, and again in 1799, for 
further increases, they were still successful and escaped indictment. 

Vulcanized rubber was patented in 1838. 

In 1840 Daguerre first made his pictures. 

The express business was started about 1840. 

The pioneer telegram was sent in 1845. 

The pioneer steamer to cross the Atlantic was built in New York in 
1818 by Francis Picket. The vessel was called the " Savannah." In the 
trip she carried seventy-five tons of coal and twenty-five cords of wood. 
She left Savannah, Georgia, in May, 1819, and arrived at Liverpool in June, 
18 19. She used steam eighteen of the twenty-six days. 

Before " stocks" were invented oxen had to be thrown and tied and the 
shoes nailed on while down. 

367 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

In 1811 a furious tornado swept across this wilderness. 

On March 9, 1828, an earthquake shock was felt in Northwestern Penn- 
sylvania. 

The earliest recorded tornado in the United States was in 1794. It 
passed north of Brookville, in what is now Heath and other townships, and 
extended to Northford, Connecticut. 

In June, about the year 1818, a terrible hail-storm swept through this 
region and extended its ravages several miles, killing and destroying the 
largest pine-trees, leaving them standing as dead. The width of this storm 
was about half a mile. 

On June 6, 1806, there was a total eclipse of the sun. Fowls went to 
roost and bees hastened to their hives. The pioneers and Indians were greatly 
alarmed. 

Between the hours of three and seven o'clock in the morning of Decem- 
ber 16, 181 1, two distinct shocks of earthquake startled the pioneers of 
Northwestern Pennsylvania. The violence was such as to shake their log 
cabins. 

PIONEER THANKSGIVING DAYS 

The first recorded Thanksgiving was the Hebrew feast of the Taber- 
nacles. 

The New England Thanksgiving dates from 1633, when the Massa- 
chusetts Bay colony set apart a day for thanksgiving. 

The first national Thanksgiving proclamations were by Congress during 
the Revolutionary War. 

The first great American Thanksgiving day was in 1784, for the declara- 
tion of peace. There was one more national Thanksgiving in 1789, and no 
other till 1862, when President Lincoln issued a national proclamation for a 
day of thanksgiving. 

The pioneer Thanksgiving day in Northwestern Pennsylvania, was on 
the last Thursday of November, 1819, by proclamation of Governor Findlay. 

In 1803 the name Keystone was first applied to the State. This was in 
a printed political address to the people. Pennsylvania was the central State 
of the original thirteen. 

The winter of 1842-43 was severe and bitter cold, with snow three feet 
deep all winter. In the fall thousands and thousands of black squirrels 
migrated through this wilderness. 

RECORD OF BIG FLOODS 

In 1806, the year of the big flood, Redbank had a rise of twenty-one 
feet. On September 27, 1861, twenty-two feet. 

We had big floods on November 10, 1810; January, 1828: February 10, 
1832; February I, 1840. 

368 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

September, 1844, a foot of snow fell, followed by a warm rain, which 
caused a great flood. 

In 1816 Ludwig Long and his son William shot five wolves without 
changing position with single-barrelled, muzzle-loading guns. 

In 1823 David Postlethwait, then living in Perry Township, found a 
rattlesnake den about a mile from his cabin, in what is now Porter Town- 
ship, and killed forty or fifty of the reptiles. In 1824 he, Nathaniel Pos- 
tlethwait, and James Stewart killed, in two hours, three hundred snakes at 
this den. John Goheen now owns (1901) this snake farm. It is in Jefferson 
County. 

In 1850 " Jack Long" crept through the rocks sixty feet into a panther's 
den and shot a full grown panther by the light of the creature's eyes. 

In 1840 the tolls received for that year on the pike were $4,109.10; 
costs of repairs and improvements, $3,338.17; amount paid gate-keepers, 
$784-33- 

SHOOTING STARS IN 1833 A SHOWER OF FIRE NATURAL PHENOMENON 

" The heavens declare Thy glory, O Lord." 

On Wednesday, November 13, 1833, about five o'clock a.m., the heavens 
presented a spectacle in this wilderness as has seldom been seen in the world. 
It struck terror to the hearts of those who saw it, and many ran away from 
home to their neighbors, declaring that the " day of judgment had arrived." 
The duration of the display was about an hour. 

The theory of meteorites is that they are parts of comets. The greatest 
fall of meteorites in the history of the world was in 1833. 

This shower was the result of the disappearance of a comet of which 
the meteorites were parts, and they are still falling. Though that was seventy 
years ago, stars still continue to shoot down the path, and astronomers saj r 
that they are the remaining pieces of the same vanished comet. 

A RAILROAD COLLISION OF 1 837 
" FATAL RAILROAD ACCIDENT 

" Steamboat ' Columbus,' August 12, 1837. 
" The most serious accident has occurred in Eastern Virginia since 
my recollection happened on the Portsmouth and Roanoke Railroad, one 
and a half miles from Suffolk, yesterday, between nine and ten o'clock. 
A' company, consisting of about one hundred and fifty ladies and gentlemen, 
from the counties of the Isle of Wight, Nansemond, and Southampton, 
came down on the railroad on Thursday, the loth inst., with the view of 
visiting Portsmouth, Norfolk, Fortress Monroe, and returning the next 
day. On their return, at the time and place above mentioned, they met a 
locomotive and train of burden-cars, and, horrible to relate, the two ran 
24 369 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

together while going at the rate of ten or twelve miles an hour." — Brookville 
Republican, August 31, 1837. 

Archie Campbell married Mary Ann Kyle. Archie and his wife lived 
in the vicinity of what is now Reynoldsville, and one winter day they con- 
cluded to visit the Kyles. They hitched up their horse in a little jumper, 
and reached their destination, some four miles over the Ceres road, and 
remained over night with their relations. During the night there was a 
heavy snow-fall. On starting home in the morning the Kyles presented 
Mary Ann with a small crock of apple-butter. The crock was stored between 
Mrs. Campbell's feet when she took her seat in the jumper. The road-track 
was covered with fresh snow, and Archie could not, of course, discern it. 
After driving some distance he struck a trot, the jumper went over a stump, 
and threw Archie and Mary Ann violently into the snow. Archie scrambled 
up and cried, " Mary Ann, my dear, are you hurted ?" " My thigh is broken, 
my thigh is broken, Archie !" Archie rushed to her aid, and running his hand 
up her limb to ascertain her injury, he exclaimed, " It's wurse than that, it's 
wurse than that, Mary Ann ; your bowels are busted, your bowels are busted !" 
And it was only apple-butter. 

Joseph Matson, Esq., lived in Eldred Township, Jefferson County, and 
in the early days he built an outside high brick chimney. He employed a 
pioneer stonemason by the name of Jacob Penrose to do the job. Penrose 
was a very rough mason, but had a high opinion of his own skill, and was 
quite confiding and bombastic in his way. After he finished the chimney, 
and before removing the scaffold, he came down to the ground to blow off a 
little steam about his work. Placing his arm around Matson's neck, he ex- 
claimed, pointing to the chimney, " There, Matson, is a chimney that will 
last you your lifetime, and your children and your children's children." 
" Look out !" said Matson. " God, she's a coming !" True enough, the 
chimney fell, a complete wreck. 

Archie Campbell and James Kyle were brothers-in-law and lived in Jef- 
ferson County. They were odd, eccentric, and stingy, but each prided him- 
self on being very generous. A true story of them is told in the following 
verses : 

" ARCHIE CAMPBELL AND JIMMIE KYLE 

" Archibald Campbell and his friend Jimmy Kyle 
Were sturdy old gents from the Emerald Isle. 
Jimmy lived on a farm just below Prospect Hill 
And Archie kept tavern in old Reynoldsville. 
Now this was long since, perhaps during the war, 
And possibly even a few years before. 
Both were thrifty and close, and knew to the cent 
Precisely the quantity of money they spent. 
It happened one day, in the course of affairs, 
That the old Prospect graveyard needed repairs. 

370 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

It had grown up with briars, bushes and trees, 

The fence was quite rotten and weak in the knees, 

And tombstones that ought to be standing erect 

Were prone from a true upright course to deflect. 

Now this was a shame, the good citizens said, 

For they ought to show more respect for the dead. 

And so they agreed, to accomplish their ends, 

To raise a subscription amongst their good friends. 

Tom Dolan, Ed. Seeley, Ben Haugh, and Pete Brown 

George Sprague and Wash Fuller all put their names down. 

But still they were short, and to increase the pile 

They handed the paper to old Jimmy Kyle. 

For a ten dollar bill he put down his name, 

And said he'd make Campbell contribute the same. 

And forth with his paper friend Kyle did essay, 

Talking loud to himself as he wended his way: 

' Sure Archie is ruch ; he sells whusky and ale, 

An' a paltry tin dollars he never would fale,' 

And thus with himself he debated the case 

Till firmly convinced. When he reached Archie's place 

He knocked at the door of the old Sandy Lick, 

When Archie jumped up and opened it quick. 

' Gud mornin',' said Jimmy, all wreathed in a smile, 

' An how's Muster Cummel ?' ' Quite wull, Muster Kyle, 

Except for me legs, fer yez know how it is, 

I'm bothered a gud but wuth ould rheumatiz. 

In a general way me health's gud enough, 

An' I'd be all right if I wasn't so stuff.' 

' An how's Mary Ann ?' ' She is gud — very gud ; 

She's out in the back yard splitting some wud.' 

' Muster Cummel,' said Jimmy, ' I'll sthate what I want : 

We're fixin' the cimetry over beyant — ■ 

I've a subscruption papur I want yez to sign: 

Jist put down yer name for a tin below mine.' 

' Egad !' exclaimed Archie, ' not a cint will I guv ! 

I won't be buried there as long as I luv !' 

' We duffer on that pint,' said Kyle, ' be me s'ul ! 

If I luv and kape me health, Archie, I wull ! ' " 

— W. O. Smith, in Punxsutawney Spirit. 

As Americans we are proud of this blood. In our struggle for inde- 
pendence they were loyal. A Tory was unheard of among them. Pennsyl- 
vania and the nation owe very much of their greatness to this race. Natural- 
born leaders and orators, they have given us statesmen, teachers, professors, 
ministers, physicians, judges, Congressmen, and generals, even to our Sher- 
idan and Grant. They have furnished the nation with seven Presidents and 
our State with seven governors. Brave, intelligent, warm hearted, and true, 
their influence must and always will be potent. 

Rev. Alexander McCahon, a " Seceder" minister who preached in and 
near Brookville about 1850, and before that time, was a Scotch-Irishman, tal- 

371 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

ented and well educated, but like many of that time, including preachers, was 
fond of " the gude crayther of God." He was accustomed to get his jug filled 
regularly at Judge Evan's store, and before leaving he would nearly always 
request William C, who still lives in Brookville (1899), to " jist open 
the molasses gate and let a little New Orleans drop on the cork." He must 
have been very fond of molasses. I remember him well. The town papers 
occasionally published one of his sermons. 

SAW-MILLS 

The earliest form of a saw-mill was a " saw-pit." In it lumber was 
sawed in this way : by two men at the saw, one man standing above the pit, 
the other man in the pit, the two men sawing the log on trestles above. Saws 
are prehistoric. The ancients used " bronzed saws." Saw-mills were first 







Pioneer saw-mil] 



run by " individual power," and water-power was first used in Germany 
about 1322. The primitive water saw-mill consisted of a wooden pitman 
attached to the shaft of the wheel. The log to be sawed was placed on rollers, 
sustained by a framework over the wheel, and was fed forward on the rollers 
by means of levers worked by hand. The pioneer saw-mill erected in the 
United States was near or on the dividing line of Maine and New Hampshire, 
in 1634. 

The early up-and-down saw-mills were built of frame timbers mortised 
and tenoned and pinned together with oak pins. In size these mills were 

3/2 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

from twenty to thirty feet wide and from fifty to sixty feet in length, and 
were roofed with clapboards, slabs, or boards. The running-gear was an 
undershot flutter-wheel, a gig-wheel to run the log-carriage back, and a bull- 
wheel with a rope or chain attached to haul the logs into the mill on and over 
the slide. The capacity of such a mill was about four thousand feet of boards 
in twenty-four hours. The total cost of one of these up-and-down saw-mills 
when completed was about three hundred dollars, one hundred dollars for 
iron used and two hundred dollars for the work and material. 

In 1827 the pioneer planing-mill in the world was invented and used. 
The band saw was invented in 18 15. The circular saw was invented in 1805. 
In 181 5 a machine for turning hat blocks, shoe lasts, and wheel spokes was 
invented. In 1818 a machine to make wooden pegs for boots and shoes was 
invented. 

HORSE-EACING 

Horse-racing was practised as early as when Troy was besieged by the 
Greeks. In the plain before the city the besiegers celebrated holidays by 
sports and horse-races, and Homer says the walls of Troy were covered with 
sporting Trojans watching the result. 

The trotting horse is an institution of the present century. Before 1800 
running was the only method of racing. 

Horse-racing as practised in the pioneer days of our country was a great 
sport. People came here from all the northwest. 

THE ROSEVILLE PIONEER RACE-GROUND 

" Jefferson County Races. — On Tuesday, the 14th of November, instant, 
will be run over the race-course on the Lewistown and Erie Turnpike, near 
the public house of Mrs. Mills, four miles west of Brookville, a match race 
of 600 yards between the celebrated racers Robin and Zib. The public and all 
others friendly are hereby invited to attend. By order of 

" The Proprietors. 
," November 2, 1837." 

" Robin" was a Brookville horse, and won this race. He was a sorrel, 
and belonged to John Pierce and Major William Rodgers. These men pur- 
chased him from Ephraim Bushly for five hundred dollars, and they sold him 
to Benjamin Bennett, Sr., of Bellefonte, where he was taken and matched 
for a race. He had never been beaten in a race, but before this match took 
place in Centre County he was poisoned and ruirled. 

" Zib" was a dark bay horse, and was owned by a Mr. Chambers, of 
Crawford County, Pennsylvania. The " stake" in the above race was three 
hundred dollars. Great crowds attended these races. People came from 
Indiana, Armstrong, Crawford, Erie, Clearfield, and Centre. The stake was 
usually three hundred dollars, and the excitement and side-betting was lively. 

373 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Previous to 1793 there were no postal or post-office facilities in this 
wilderness. Letters and papers had to be sent with friends, neighbors, or by 
special carriers. The first newspaper started in the western part of the State 
was the Pittsburg Gazette. It was published by John Scull, and issued in 
1786. It was distributed to patrons by special carriers. 

In the forties, Peter Ricord, Sr., and his son Peter erected on their farm 
in what was then called " Jericho," and now Warsaw Post-Office, Jefferson 
County, a frame grist-mill structure thirty by thirty feet. This mill had one 
run of stones, and the motive power was one yoke of oxen. I cannot de- 
scribe it. The capacity was about thirty bushels of corn or grain a day. 
Ephraim Bushly was the millwright ; Peter Ricord, Jr., the miller. The 
scheme not proving a financial success, the running gear was removed in a 
few years, and the building utilized as a barn by the Ricords, and afterwards 
by John A. Fox. 

The pioneer convention of national delegates to nominate a candidate for 
President was held at Baltimore, September 26, 1831. The anti-Masonic 
party then and there nominated William Wirt, of Maryland, for President, 
and Amos Ellmaker, of Pennsylvania, for Vice-President. 

Previous to 1831 Presidential nominees were made by each party in this 
way, — viz., first, the Congressional caucus ; second, the legislative caucus ; 
third, the legislative mixed caucus; fourth, the legislative convention. From 
1796 to 1824 the Congressional caucus was in power. The legislative caucus 
fell by its own weight. The legislative mixed caucus stood for a short time, 
and then died. 

" Natural gas, we are informed, was first discovered in the United States 
in natural springs in Western New York and Pennsylvania by the Indians, 
who used to perform their semi-religious ceremonies in the light of the burn- 
ing springs. The early history of it elsewhere dates back to the dawn of 
history itself. 

" The first historical record of natural gas in the United States was in 
1775, when General Washington visited the natural gas spring a few miles 
east of the present site of Charleston, when the sight of it so impressed him 
that he pre-empted an acre of ground surrounding it, dedicating it to the 
public forever. This feeling, however, at the first sight of this phenomenon 
was not an unusual one, as Humboldt is quoted as declaring it the " eighth 
wonder of the world." 

" The first economical use of gas in the United States was at Fredonia, 
Chautauqua County, New York, when, in 1821, a well was drilled twenty- 
seven feet deep and one and one-half inches in diameter, that produced suffi- 
cient gas to illuminate the little village, which was lighted by thirty burners, 
these being made by drilling a hole the size of a small knitting-needle in the 
pipe. This gas was conveyed from the well to the place where it was used in 
wooden pipes. 

374 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" The first application of natural gas for fuel was in Erie, Pennsylvania, 
about 1868, and the first natural gas plant which supplied lights and heat in 
a large and permanent quantity by methods and appliances similar to those 
used at the present time was constructed in Titusville, Pennsylvania, in 1872, 
and the first natural gas line was built in 1875 from Butler County, Penn- 
sylvania, to Pittsburg, which was seventeen miles long and six inches in 
diameter. Since that time its application has increased by leaps and bounds 
until reckless consumption and appalling waste depleted many of the original 
fields." — Potter Journal. 

Snow fell in 1799 to the depth of five feet. Many wild animals starved 
to death. There was a great fall of snow in 1817. 

Locusts swarmed through this wilderness in 1795, in 1812, in 1829, and 
in 1846. A big frost, — a regular freeze, — occurred in June, 1843. 







CHAPTER XXI 



MY FIRST RECOLLECTIONS OF BROOKVILLE 

" How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood, 
When fund recollection presents them to view. 

. . . the deep tangled wildwood. 
And every loved spot which my infancy knew." 

I was born in Brookville when wolves howled almost nightly on what 
is now known as our " Fair Ground;" when the pine in its lofty pride leaned 




eri W W W ,Ji £ H i** 







Pioneer court house and jail. 1S31 

" \Yhere gross misconduct met the lash, 

And there see the rocklbuilt prison's dreadful face." 

gloomily over every hill-side : when the shades of the forest were heavy 
the whole dav through : when the woods around our shanty town was the 

376 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

home of many wild animals and birds, such as panthers, bears, wild-cats, 
foxes, deer, wolves, elks, rabbits, catamounts, coons, ground-hogs, porcupines, 
partridges, turkeys, and pheasants ; when the clear sparkling waters of the 
North Fork, Sandy Lick, and Red Bank Creeks contained choice pike, many 
bass, sunfish, horned chubs, trout, and other fish ; when the wild " bee trees" 
were quite numerous and full of luscious sweets for the woodman's axe. As 
you will see, choice meals for hunters could easily be obtained from the 
abundance of this game. All flesh-eating animals were either hunters, fishers, 
or both. 

The conditions and circumstances of the county made every man a 
hunter, and each and every one had his gun, bullet-moulds, shot-pouch, and 
powder-horn for any and every emergency. It was frequently found neces- 
sary before going to church on Sunday to shoot a wild turkey or a deer to 
" keep them off the grass." The " mighty hunters," though, were " Mike," 
" Dan," John, and " Bill" Long. Dan was murdered on the Clarion River, 
near Raught's mill. John was the father of Hon. James E. Long. In winter 
these hunters wore a white garment, called a " hunting-shirt," buckskin 
breeches, and moccasin shoes. In their shirt belts each carried a flint-knocker, 
spunk, hunting-knives, and a tomahawk. Animals were ruthlessly killed for 
their skins. Deer were thus slaughtered, only the " saddles" or hind quarters 
being saved for food. If a history of these Longs could be truthfully written, 
— a full narration of their adventures, perils, coolness, and daring while on 
the trail of bears, wolves, and panthers, — it would, perhaps, make a book 
equally as interesting as the " Life of Daniel Boone and Simon Girty." 

In the way of a preface to these imperfect reminiscences of Brookville 
and our dear fathers I simply ask of you this : 

" Let not ambition mock their useful toil, 
Their homely joys and destiny obscure. 
Nor grandeur hear with a disdainful smile 
These short and simple annals of the poor." 

My first clear and distinct recollections of our town and the people in 
it are in the years 1840 to 1843. The ground where the Democrat is now 
printed was then covered with pines. Then Brookville was a town of forty 
or fifty " shanties" and eight or ten business places, including the " old brick 
court-house" and the " old stone jail." The number of people in the town 
was three hundred and twenty-two. These " shanties" were principally on 
Main Street, and extended from where the Baptist church now is in the east 
to where Judge Clark now lives in the west. There were a few scattered 
shanties on Jefferson Street. A great deep gully crossed Main Street about 
where the Brookville National Bank now stands. 

A common sight in those days was, " Cakes & Beer For Sale Here," — 
a bottle of foaming beer in a glass in the corner. The first of these signs 

377 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

which I remember was one on John Brownlee's house, on the northeast 
corner of Main and Mill Streets, and one on John Showalter's house (the 
late gunsmith), now the property of John S. Moore. The cakes were made 
of New Orleans molasses, and were delicious, more so than any you can 
make or buy now. The}' were sold for a cent apiece. The beer was home- 
made, and called " small beer," and sold for three cents a glass. It was made 
of hops, ginger, spruce, sassafras-roots, wheat bran, molasses, yeast, and 
water. About every family made their own beer. Mrs. Showalter and other 
old ladies living in the town now (1898), I venture to sav, have made 
" barrels" of it. 

The taverns in the town then were four in number. First, the " Red 
Lion." This inn was kept by John Smith, the step-father of David Eason. 
The second was the " Jefferson House," then kept by Thomas Hastings, now 
occupied and kept by Phil. J. Allgeier. In this hotel the " light fantastic 
toe" was tripped to the airs of " Money Musk," " Virginia Reel," " French 
Four," and " Pine Creek Lady." The orchestra for these occasions was 
George Hayes, who came from Westmoreland County, a colored fiddler of 
the town, who could play the violin behind his back as well as before his 
face, with his left or right hand, and asleep or awake. I could name quite 
a number of ladies in the town now whom I used to see enjoying themselves 
in this way. The third was the " Franklin House," built by John Gelvin, and 
then kept by John Pierce. The Central Hotel, owned by S. B. Arthurs, has 
been erected on the ground occupied by the Franklin. The fourth was on 
the corner of Main and Barnett Streets, erected by John Dougherty. It 
swung the sign, — 

" Peace and Poverty, by John Dougherty." 

In 1840 it was occupied and kept by John Gallagher. Each of these hotels 
had license, and sold whiskey at three cents a drink, mostly on credit. You 
could have your whiskey straight, or have brown sugar or " tansy bitters" 
in it. The bars had to be opened regularly on Sunday for " morning bitters." 
Single meals were given for twenty-five cents, a " check" or cold meal for 
a " 'leven-penny bit," and a bed for ten cents. You could stop over night, 
have supper, bed, morning bitters, and breakfast, all for fifty cents. There 
was but one table, one hour, one ringing of the bell. 

The Susquehanna and Waterford turnpike was completed in 1824. It 
was a good road, and was kept in fair repair. In 1840 it passed from 
under State control, and the magnitude of the travel over it was great. The 
stage line was started in 1824. Morrow started his team then, and cattle and 
other droving commenced in 1S35. All this I am told ; but I know the 
stage was a big factor in 1840. Morrow was on time, and droving was im- 
mense. I have seen passing through Brookville on their way east from four 
to six droves of cattle in a dav. The droves were generallv divided into three 

3/S 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

sections. At the head of the first would be a man leading a big ox, his extra 
clothing strapped on the ox's head, and the man would be crying out ever and 
anon, " K-o, b-o-s-s ;" " Come, boss." I have seen two and three droves of 
sheep pass in a day, with occasionally a drove of hogs sandwiched between 
them. Horse droves were numerous, too. I have seen a few droves of 
colts, and a few flocks of turkeys. I could not give an estimate of the num- 
ber of these droves I have seen passing our home in a day. The business 
of droving began in June of each year, and ended in November. There was 
no other way to take this merchandise east than to drive it. 

But you must not think everybody was going east. A big lot of people 
were going west, including their cousins and their aunts. This turnpike was 
the shortest line west. We lived where T. L. Templeton now lives, and 
every few days all through the summer months I would see, nearly opposite 
the Baptist church, in the middle of the street, two men and a dog, and one 
of the men usually carrying a gun. They were the advance-guard for an 
" emigrant train." In a few minutes from one to six wagons would come 
in sight and stop, — all stopping here for a short rest. " Where are you 
going?" was the usual inquiry. "Going West; going to Ohio." The 
wagons were heavy, wide-tracked, covered with hoops and a white canvas, 
and had a stiff tongue and iron pole-chains. The horses wore heavy harness 
with iron trace-chains. An occasional emigrant would locate in our county, 
but the great majority generally struggled on for the far West, — Ohio. 

The usual mode of travel for the people was on foot or on horseback ; 
but the most interesting mode was the daily stage, which " brought" and 
" took" the mail and carried the passengers who were going east or west. 
This was the " limited mail," and the " day and night express" of these days, 
— a through train, only stopping thirty minutes for meals. Of course this 
" limited mail," this " day and night express," over this " short route," 
eclipsed and overshadowed every other line and mode of travel. It was 
" grand, startling, and stupendous." There were no through tickets sold, to be 

" Punched, punched with care, 
Punched in the presence of the passengaire." 

The fare was six cents a mile in advance, and to be paid in " bimetallism." 
When the officials made their usual tour of inspection over this " road," 
they had extended to them the genuine hospitality of everybody, including 
that of the landlords, and free whiskey. The President of the great Penn- 
sylvania line is a small potato to-day in contrast with the chief manager 
of our line in that day, for our line was then the vanguard of every improve- 
ment a passenger might desire or a traveller wish for. 

The coaches were made in Concord, New Hampshire, and were called 
" rockaway coaches." Each coach had heavy leather belt-springs, and was a 
handsome vehicle, painted red, with gold stripes and letters, and was drawn 

379 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

by four horses. The coach was made to carry nine passengers, but I have 
often seen it with a dozen inside, two on the seat with the driver, and some 
on top. Trunks were carried on the top and in the " boot." Every driver 
carried a horn, and always took a " horn." When nearing a " relay" or a 
post-office, the valleys and hills were made to echo and re-echo to the 
" er-r-a-h, er-r-a-h, tat, tat, t-a-h, tat t-a-h" of the driver's horn, which was 
to attract the attention of the landlord or postmaster by night or by da}'. 
In later years the coaches were the most ordinary hacks, and the horses 
could be " seen through," whether sick or well, without the aid of any X-rays. 

The roads in spring, summer, and fall were a succession of mud-holes, 
with an occasional corduroy. Don't mention bad roads now. The male pas- 
sengers usually walked up the hills. All this in the blackness of darkness 
without a match, lantern, or light. 

I take from an old paper the experience of one who rode in these stages : 

"Jolted, thumped, distracted, 

Rocked, and quite forlorn. 
Oh ! wise one, what duties 

Now are laid on corn? 
Mad, disgusted, angry, 

In a swearing rage, 
'Tis the very d — 1 

Riding in this stage." 

From 1832 to about 1840 the drivers were Henry Dull and Andrew 
Loux, father of Enoch Loux. 

The prominent stage-drivers in 1840 were John S. Barr, S. P. Barr, 
Gabriel Vastbinder, Bill Adams, Joe Stratton, and others. Each driver car- 
ried a whip made as follows : a hickory stock, and a buckskin lash ten or 
twelve feet long, with a silk cracker on the end. These whips were handled 
with marvellous dexterity by drivers, and were made to crack over the 
horses' heads like pistols. The great pride of a driver then was to turn a 
" coach-and-four" with the horses on a " complete run." Bill Adams was 
good at this. A laughable incident occurred in one of these turns on Main 
Street. The driver was showing off in his usual style, and in making the turn 
with the horses on a complete run the coach struck a stone, which upset it. 
The weight of all the passengers coming against the coach-door burst it open, 
and the passengers, one and all, were thrown out and literally clumped into the 
hotel bar-room. This was a perfection in stage driving not easily attained. 

In 1840 the Brookville merchant kept his own books, — or, as he would 
have said, his "own accounts, — wrote all his letters with a quill, and when 
they were written let the ink dry or sprinkled it with sand. There were then 
no envelopes, no postage stamps, no letter-boxes in the streets, no collection 
of the mail. The letter written, the paper was carefully folded, sealed with 

380 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

wax or a wafer, addressed, and carried to the post-office, where postage was 
prepaid at rates which would now seem extortionate. 

In 1840 Brookville merchants purchased their goods in Philadelphia. 
These purchases were made in the spring and fall. It took about two and a 
half clays' continuous travelling in the " limited mail" day and night stage- 
coach to reach Lewistown, Pennsylvania, and required about one day and a 
half travelling over the canal and railroad to reach Philadelphia from that 
point. From Brookville to Philadelphia it required some four or five days' 
constant travelling. Our merchants carried their money on these trips as well 
as they could, mostly secreted in some way about their persons. After pur- 
chasing their goods in Philadelphia, they were ordered to be shipped to 
Brookville as " heavy freight," over the great corporation freight line of 




Bennett's stage and Morrow's team 



"Joe Morrow." Joe was a "bloated corporationist," a transportation mo- 
nopolist of that day. He was a whole " trust" in himself. He owned and 
managed the whole line, and had no opposition, on this end at least. His 
line consisted of two Conestoga wagons, the bed on each at least four feet 
high and sixteen feet long. Each wagon was painted blue, and each was 
covered with a white canvas, this covering supported by hoops. The wagon 
was always loaded and unloaded from the rear end. The tires on the wheels 
were six inches wide. Each wagon would carry over three tons of freight, 
and was drawn over good roads by six magnificent horses, and over bad roads 
by eight of such horses, and each horse weighed about fourteen hundred. 
The price of wagon carriage over this distance was five dollars and six dollars 

381 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

a hundredweight. This was the " fast" and heavy freight line from Phila- 
delphia to Brookville until the canal was built to Lewistown, Pennsylvania, 
when Morrow changed his head-quarters from Philadelphia to Lewistown, 
and continued to run his semi-annual " freight train" from Lewistown to 
Brookville. Morrow's advent into town was always a great event. He 
always stopped his " train" in front of the Red Lion Hotel, then kept by 
John Smith. The horses were never stabled, but stood day and night in the 
street, three on each side of the stiff tongue of the wagon, and were fed in a 
box he carried with him, called his " feed-trough." The harness was broad 
and heavy, and nearly covered the horses ; and they were " hitched up" to 
the wagon with iron " pole" and " trace-chains." The Brotherhood of Loco- 
motive Engineers, the Switchmen's Union, the " American Railway Union," 
and all the Sovereigns and Debses put together, had no terrors for Joe, for 
he had but one employee, a " brakeman," for his second wagon. Joe was the 
employed and the employer. Like a " transportation king," like a " robber 
baron," he sat astride a wagon saddle on the hind near horse, driving the 
others with a single line and a blacksnake whip, to the words, " Gee," " Jep," 
and " Haw." He drove with one line, and when he wanted his horse to haw 
he would pull on the line; if he wanted him to gee he would jerk on the 
line. Morrow always remained in Brookville four or five days, to buy our 
products and load his train for the home trip. He bought and loaded clover, 
timothy, and flaxseed, feathers, old rags, tar, beeswax, wheat, rye, chestnuts, 
furs, and dried elderberries. The western terminus of his line was Shippen- 
ville, Clarion County, Pennsylvania, and on his return from there he bought 
up these products. Conestoga wagons came into use about 1760. 

Morrow's last trip to Brookville with his train was about the year 1850. 
He was an Irishman, slim, wiry, industrious, and of business habits. He was 
killed by the kick of a horse, at Cross's tavern, Clearfield County, Pennsyl- 
vania, — kicked on the nth day of September, 1855, and died on the 12th. I 
remember that he usually wore a spotted fawn-skin vest, made from the 
skin with the hair on. The merchants in Brookville of that day who are 
still living (1895), and for whom Morrow hauled goods, as far as I can 
recollect, are Uriah Matson, Harry Matson, Judge Henderson, Samuel Truby, 
Wm. Rodgers, and W. W. Corbet, who now resides in or near the town, 
Captain John Hastings, of Punxsutawney, W. F. Clark, of Maquoketa, Iowa, 
and S. M. Moore, of Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

" The past — the present race must tell 
Of deeds done by their friends of old, 
Who at their posts of duty fell, 

And left their acts and deeds untold." 

The town was laid out in 1830. My father moved here in 1832. He 
taught the first term of school in the town, in the winter of 1832. He was 

382 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

lieutenant-colonel in the militia, a justice of the peace, and was county treas- 
urer when he died, in 1837, at the early age of twenty-seven years, leaving 
my mother in this wilderness, a widow with three small children to support 
and rear. In 1840 my mother taught a summer term of school in what was 
then and is now called the Butler school-house. This school-house is on the 
Ridgway road, in Pine Creek Township, three miles from town. I was 
small, and had to go and come to and from this school with mother. We 
came home every Saturday to remain over Sunday, and to attend Presby- 
terian church, service being then held in the old brick court-house. The 
Presbyterians then called their church " Bethel." In 1842 it was changed to 
Brookville. We had no choir in the church then, but had a " clerk," who 
would stand in front of the pulpit, read out two lines, and then sing them, 
then read two more and sing them, and so on until the hymn or psalm was 
sung, the congregation joining in as best they could. Of these clerks, the 
only ones I can now recollect were Thomas Lucas, Samuel McQuiston, and 
John S. Lucas. I have no recollection of David's psalms being used other 
than is found in Watts' version, in combination with the hymns. I recollect 
two of the favorite hymns at that time with this church. The first verse of 
one hymn was as follows : 

" When I can read my title clear 
To mansions in the skies, 
I'll bid farewell to every fear, 
And wipe my weeping eyes." 

The first verse of the second hymn was : 

" There is a land of pure delight, 
Where saints immortal reign ; 
Infinite day excludes the night, 
And pleasures banish pain." 

One by one, these early pioneer Christians have left for this " land of 
pure delight !" to occupy these " mansions in the skies." I hope and pray that 
each one is now — 

" In seas of heavenly rest." 

After returning home from the Butler school-house one Saturday, I 
remember I asked my mother for a " piece." She went to the cupboard, and 
when she got there the cupboard was not bare, for, lo ! and behold, a great 
big snake was therein, coiled and ready for fight. My mother, in horror, ran 
to the door and called Mr. Lewis Dunham, a lawyer, who lived in the house 
now occupied by R. M. Matson, Esq. Mr. Dunham came on a run, and tried 
to catch or kill the snake with our " tongs," but it made good its escape 
through a rat-hole in the corner of the cupboard. Reptiles, such as black-, 
rattle-, house-, and other snakes were very plenty then in and around Brook- 

383 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

ville, and dangerous, too. These snakes fed and lived on birds, mice, etc., 
and were very fond of milk, which they drink after the manner of a horse. 

In a former chapter I called Brookville a town of shanties. And so it 
was ; but there was one exception, there was one solid building, a dwell- 
ing occupied by a man named Bliss, on Water Street, on or near the lot 
at present (1898) owned and occupied by Billy Barr. It was built of logs. 
The other shanties were solid enough, for they were built in a different man- 
ner from shanties now, being put together with " frame timbers," mortised 




" Who ran to help me when I fell, 
And would some pretty story tell, 
Or kiss the place to make it well ? 
My mother!" 

and tenoned, and fastened with oak pins, as iron and nails were scarce, people 
being poor and having little or no money. Every building had to have a 
" raising," and the neighbors had to be invited to help " raise." Cyrus Butler, 
a bluff, gruff Yankee, was the captain at all raisings. He would stand off 
by himself, crying out at the proper time, " All together, men, he-o-he ! 
he-o-he I" 

No dwelling in the town was then complete without having in the back- 
yard an " out-oven," an " ash-hopper," a " dye-kettle," and a rough box 

384 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

fastened to the second story of the necessary, in which to raise early cabbage- 
plants. At the rear of each kitchen was a hop-vine with its pole, and each 
family raised its own catnip, peppermint, sage, and tansy. 

" The hand of the reaper 

Takes the leaves that are hoary, 
But the voice of the weeper 
Wails manhood in glory." 

In 1840 there was a law requiring the enrolment of all able-bodied men 
between twenty-one and forty-five years of age in the militia. These were 
formed into companies and battalions, and organized into brigades, each 
brigade to meet once a year in " encampment," for a period of three days, two 
days for " muster and drill" and one day for " review." The encampments 
were held in May or June, and for some reason or other these soldiers were 
called the " cornstalk militia," because some of the soldiers carried cornstalks 
for guns. No uniforms were worn in most cases. The soldier wore his home- 
spun or store-clothes, and each one reported with his own pike, wooden 
gun, rifle, or musket, and, under the inspiring influence of his accoutrements, 
discipline, and drill, — 

" Each bosom felt the high alarms, 
And all their burning pulses beat to arms." 

For non-attendance by a soldier at these encampments a fine of fifty 
cents was imposed for every day's absence. This fine had to be paid in 
cash, and was quite a severe penalty in those days of no money, county orders, 
and store barter. 

The first encampment I remember was held on what is now called 
Granger (Jack) Heber's farm. Brigadier-General Mercer was the com- 
mander then. He rode a sorrel horse, with a silver mane and tail, and a 
curled moustache. His bridle was ornamented with fine leather straps, balls, 
and tassels, and the blue saddle-cloth was covered with stars and spangles, 
giving the horse the appearance of a " fiery dragon." The general would 
occasionally dismount, to make some inspection on foot, when the army was 
drawn up in line, and then a great race, and frequently a fight, would occur 
among the small boys for the possession of the horse. The reward for hold- 
ing him at this time was a " fippenny-bit." The camp grounds were alive 
with whiskey-sellers, ginger-bread and small-beer dealers. Whiskey was to 
be had from barrels or jugs, in large or small quantities. When the army 
was in line it was dealt out to the soldiers from a bucket with a dipper. Any- 
body could sell whiskey and anybody could drink it. It was worth from 
twelve to twenty cents a gallon. The more brawls and fist-fights, the livelier, 
better, and greater was considered the muster. The bad blood between neigh- 
25 38S 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

bors was always settled here. Each party always resolved to meet the other 
on review-day to fight it out, and after the fight to meet, drink together, and 
make up their difference. Pugilism was practised in that day, not on scien- 
tific principles, but by main strength. The terror of all public gatherings was 
a man called " Devil John Thompson." He lived in Indiana County, and 
came here always on reviews. Each military company had a fifer or drum- 
mer, seldom a complete band. I have seen the late Judge Taylor blowing his 
fife, the only musician of and for one of these companies. This occurred on 
Main Street, in front of our house ; and when I look back on this soldier 
scene, it seems to me these soldiers, from their appearance, must have been 
composed of the rag-tag and bob-tail of creation. An odd and comic sight it 
really was. To be an officer or captain in one of these companies was con- 
sidered a great honor, and something which the recipient was in duty bound 
to thank God for in his morning and evening prayers. I cannot do this 
subject justice. Such was the Pennsylvania militia as I saw it, and all that 
remains for me to say is, " Great the State and great her sons." 

In 1840 we had two big men in the town, — Judge William Jack, who 
was sent to Congress, and who built and lived in the house on Pickering 
Street now owned and occupied by Joseph Darr, Esq., and General Levi G. 
Clover, who lived on Main Street, in a house that was burned down, which 
stood on the lot now owned by Mrs. Clarissa Clements, and is the place of 
business of Misses McLain and Fetzer. Clover was a big man physically, a 
big man in the militia, a big man in politics, and a big man in business. Like 
most big men in those days, he owned and ran a whiskey-still. This distillery 
was located on or near the property of Fred. Starr, in what is now Litchtown. 
I used to loaf occasionally in this distillery, and I have seen some of our old 
citizens take a pint tin cup and dip it full of whiskey from out of Clover's 
copper kettles, and then drink this whole pint of whiskey down apparently 
at one gulp. I might pause to say right here, that in drinking whiskey, 
racing, square pulling, swearing, and fighting the old settler was " right in 
it." The wrestling- and fighting-ground then for the men and boys was 
the ground now occupied by the Jenks machine-shop, and the highway to 
and from these grounds was down the alley between Ed. Snyder's blacksmith- 
shop and C. A. Carrier's store (1898). I have had business on that ground 
with some boys myself. 

In the woods in and around Brookville in 1840 there were many sweet- 
singing birds and beautiful wild-flowers. I remember the laurel. We used 
to adorn our mantels and parlor fireplaces with these every spring. I re- 
member the honeysuckle, the wild rose, the crab-apple tree, the thorn, and 
others. The aroma from many of these flowers was delightful. House- 
plants were unknown. The garden flowers of that day were the pink ("a 
flower most rare"), the lilac, the hollyhock, the sunflower, and the rose. 
Each garden had a little bed of " sweet-williams" and " johnny-jump ups." 

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HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

The garden rose was a beautiful, sweet flower then, and it is a beautiful, sweet 
flower to-day, and it ever will be sweet and beautiful. My mother used to 
sing to me this hymn of Isaac Watts as a lullaby : 

"How fair is the rose, what a beautiful flower! 
In summer so fragrant and gay ; 
But its leaves are beginning to fade in an hour ; 
And they wither and die in a day. 

" Yet the rose has one powerful virtue to boast 
Above all the flowers of the field : 
When its leaves are all dead and its fine colors lost, 
Still how sweet a perfume it will yield. 

" So frail are the youth and the beauty of men, 
Though they look gay and bloom like the rose, 
Yet all our fond care to preserve them is vain, 
Time kills them as fast as he goes. 

" Then I'll not be proud of my youth or my beauty, 
Since both will soon wither and fade, 
But gain a good name by performing my duty; 
This will scent like the rose when I'm dead." 

The rose is said to have been the first cultivated flower. 

In 1840 there was no church building in the town. Our Presbyterian 
preacher in the town was the Rev. David Polk, a cousin to President Polk. 
The token was then given out on Saturday to all those who were adjudged 
worthy to sit at the Lord's table. These tokens were taken up on the follow- 
ing Sunday while seated at the table. Friday was " fast" or preparation day. 
We were not allowed to eat anything, or very little, until the sun went down. 
I can only remember that I used to get hungry and long for night to come. 
Rev. Polk preached half of his time in Corsica, the other half in Brookville. 
His salary was four hundred dollars per year, — two hundred dollars from 
Brookville and two hundred dollars from Corsica. He lived on the pike in 
the hollow beyond and west of Roseville. He preached in the court-house 
until the Presbyterians completed the first church building in the town, in 
1843. It stood where the church now stands, and was then outside of the 
borough limits. The building was erected through the efforts of a lawyer 
then residing in Brookville, named C. A. Alexander. The ground for the 
church building was one acre ; cost, fifty dollars ; and the deed was obtained 
in 1848. The building was 40 by 60, and built by Phillip Schroeder for eleven 
hundred dollars. The ruling elders of the church then were Thomas Lucas, 
John Matson, Sr., Elijah Clark, John Lattimer, Joseph McCullough, and 
John Wilson. 

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HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Other preachers came to town occasionally in 1840, and held their 
services in the court-house. One jolly, aged Welshman was called Father 
Thomas. He was a Baptist, a dear old man, and a great singer. I always 
went to his church to hear him sing. I can sing some of his songs yet. 
I will repeat a stanza from one of his favorites : 

" Oh, then I shall be ever free, 
Happy in eternity, 
Eternity, eternity, 
Happy in eternity." 

Dear old soul, he is in eternity, and I have no doubt is happy singing 
his favorite songs there. 

A Methodist preacher named Elijah Coleman came here occasionally. 
Methodist head-quarters were at David Henry's and at Cyrus Butler's. The 
first Methodist prayer-meeting held in town was at Cyrus Butler's. It was 
held in the little yellow house occupied for years by Mrs. Rachel Dixon, 
and torn down by C. C. Benscoter, Esq., in 1887, in order to erect his present 
dwelling. In 1840 men and women were not permitted to sit on the same 
seat in church, or on the same side of the house. 

The physicians in the town in 1840 were Dr. George Darling, father 
of the late Paul Darling, and Dr. Gara Bishop, father of Mrs. Edmund 
English. Dr. Bishop was also a Presbyterian preacher. 

In 1840 Jefferson County contained a population of seven thousand 
two hundred and fifty-three people, and embraced nearly all of Forest and 
Elk Counties. Ridgway was then in the northeast corner of our county, and 
Punxsutawney was a village of about fifteen or twenty dwellings. 

The politics of the county was divided into Whig and Democrat. The 
leading Whigs in Brookville, as I recollect them, were Thomas Lucas, Esq., 
James Corbet, father of Colonel Corbet, Benjamin McCreight, father of 
Mrs. Dr. Hunt, Thomas M. Barr, and Samuel H. Lucas. The leading Demo- 
crats were Hon. William Jack, General L. G. Clover, Judge Joseph Hen- 
derson, John Smith, Daniel Smith, Jesse G. Clark, father of Judge Clark, 
D. B. Jenks, John Dougherty, Richard Arthurs, and Thomas Hastings. Poli- 
tics ran so high that year that each party had its own Fourth of July cele- 
bration. The Whigs celebrated at Port Barnett. Nicholas McQuiston, the 
miller who died at Langville a few years ago, had one of his legs broken at 
this celebration by the explosion of a log which he had filled with powder. 
The Democrats celebrated in Brookville, in front of the Franklin Hotel, now 
the Central. I was big enough to have a full run and clear view of this table 
and celebration. The table was covered with small roasted pigs, roasted 
turkeys, venison, pies, gingerbread, " pound-cake," etc. I was not allowed 
to participate in the feast, although my father in his lifetime had been a 
Democrat. Boys and girls were then taught modesty, patience, and man- 

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HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

ners by parents. Children were taught and compelled to respect age and to 
defer to the wishes of father and mother. Now the father and mother must 
defer to the wishes of children. There was more home and less public train- 
ing of children, and, as a result, children had more modesty and patience 
and less impudence. In 1840 children slept in " trundle-beds," and were 
required by their mothers to repeat every night before going to sleep this 
little prayer : 

" Now I lay me down to sleep, 

I pray the Lord my soul to keep ; 

If I should die before I wake, 

I pray the Lord my soul to take." 

This home training was a constant building up of individual character, 
and I believe a much more effectual way for good than the present public 
way of building character collectively. 

In 1840 our Congressman was Judge Jack, of Brookville, and our member 
of the Legislature was Hon. James L. Gillis, of Ridgway Township. The 
county officers were : Prothonotary, General Levi G. Clover ; Sheriff, John 
Smith ; Treasurer, Jesse G. Clark ; Commissioners, Daniel Coder, Irwin 
Robinson, and Benjamin McCreight. The county was Democratic by one 
hundred and twenty-five majority. 

The postmaster in Brookville was John Dougherty, and Joseph Hen- 
derson was deputy United States marshal for Jefferson County. He took the 
census of 1840 for our county. 

Of the above-named politicians and officials, Judge Henderson is the 
only one now living (1895). Every day yet the judge can be found at his 
place of business, pleasant, cheerful, and intelligent, — a fine old gentleman. 
In his many political contests I always admired, defended, and supported him. 
One thing I begin to notice, " he is not as young as he used to be." 

" Oh, tell me the tales I delighted to hear, 
Long, long ago, long, long ago; 
Oh, sing me the old songs so full of cheer, 
Long, long ago, long, long ago." 

In 1840 we boys amused ourselves in the winter months by catching 
rabbits in box-traps, — the woods were full of them, — skating on Geer's pond, 
a small lake then located where Allgeier's brewery now stands (this lake 
was destroyed by the building of Mabon's mill-race), skating on Barr's (now 
Litch's) dam, and coasting down the town or graveyard hill. In the summer 
and fall months the amusements were alley-ball behind the court-house, town- 
ball, over-ball, sock-ball, fishing in the streams and in Geer's pond, riding- 
floats of slabs on the creek, swimming in the " deep hole," and gathering 
blackberries, crab-apples, wild plums, and black and yellow haws. But the 
amusement of all amusements, the one that was enjoyed every day in the 

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HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

year by the boys, was the cutting of fire-wood. The wood for heating and 
cooking was generally hauled in " drags" to the front door of each house on 
Main Street, and there cut on the " pile" by the boys of each house. The 
gathering of hazel-nuts, butternuts, hickory-nuts, and chestnuts was an agree- 
able and profitable recreation. My boy associates of those days — where are 
they ? " Some sleep on battle fields and some beneath the sea." I can only 
recall the following, who are now living in Brookville (1898) : David Eason, 
W. C. Evans, Dr. C. M. Matson, Thomas E. Espy, Thomas P. McCrea, 
Daniel Burns, Clover Smith, W. C. Smith, and W. R. Ramsey. I under- 
stand John Craig, Frederick and Lewis Dunham, Elijah and Lorenzo Lowell, 



Brookville kitchen. 1S40 

and Alexander Barr live in the State of Iowa, Richard Espy in Kentucky, 
and John L. and Anson Warren in Wisconsin. 

In 1840 every housewife in Brookville cooked over a fireplace, in which 
a crane was fastened so as to swing in, out, off, on, and over the fire. Every 
fireplace had a wooden poker, a pair of tongs to handle burning wood, and 
a shovel to remove the ashes. The fuel used was wood, — pine, maple, oak, 
birch, and hickory. To every fire there had to be a " back log," and the 
smaller or front pieces were supported on " andirons" or common stones. 
Matches were not in use, hence fires were covered at night so as to preserve 
some live coals for the morning fire. Rich people had a little pair of bellows 
to blow these live coals into a blaze, but poor people had to do the best they 

300 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

could with their mouths. After having nearly smoked my eyes out trying to 
blow coals into life, I have had to give it up and go to a neighbor to borrow 
a shovel of fire. Some old settlers used " spunk," a flint, and a barlow knife 
to start a fire in an emergency like this. Spunk — punk or touchwood — was 
obtained from the inside of a hollow white maple-tree. When matches were 
first brought around great fear was entertained that they might burn every- 
body out of house and home. My mother secured a tin box with a safe lid 
in which to keep hers. For some reason they were called locofoco matches. 

The crane in the fireplace had a set of rods with hooks on each end, 
and they were graduated in length so as to hang the kettle at the proper 
height from the fire. In addition to the kettles we had the long-handled 
frying-pan, the handle of which had to be supported by some one's hand, 
or else on a box or a chair. Then there was the three-legged, short-handled 
spider. It could support itself. And I must not forget the griddle for buck- 
wheat cakes. It had to be suspended by a rod on the crane. Then there was 
the old bake-kettle, or oven, with legs and a closely-fitted cover. In this was 
baked the " pone" for the family. I can say truthfully that pone was not used 
more than thirty days in the month. 

This was a hard way to cook. Women would nearly break their backs 
lifting these heavy kettles on and off, burn their faces, smoke their eyes, 
singe their hair, blister their hands, and " scorch" their clothes. 

Our spoons were pewter and iron ; knives and forks were iron with 
bone handles. The chinaware was about as it is now. 

The every-day bonnet of women then was the " sun-bonnet" for sum- 
mer, and a quilted " hood" for winter. The dress bonnet was made of paper 
or leghorn, and was in shape something like our coal-scuttles. 

In 1840 nearly every wife in Brookville milked a cow and churned butter. 
The cows were milked at the front door on Main Street. These cows were 
ornery, ill-looking, ill-fed, straw-stealing, and blue-milk giving creatures. 
The water with which to wash clothes and do the scrubbing was caught in 
barrels or tubs from the house-roof. Scrubbing the floors of a house had to 
be attended to regularly once a week. This scrubbing had to be done with 
powdered sand and a home-made " split broom." Every wife had to make 
her own soap, bake her own bread, sew and dye all the clothes for the family, 
spin the wool for and knit the mittens and socks, make the coverlets, quilt 
the quilts, see that the children's shoes for Sunday were greased with tallow 
every Saturday night, nurse the sick, give " sheep saffron" for the measles, 
and do all the cooking. All this too without " protection, tariff, rebate, or 
combine." About every family had a cow, dog, cat, pig, geese, and chickens. 
The town gave these domestic animals the right to " life, liberty, and the 
pursuit of happiness." Of course, under these sanitary conditions, the town 
was alive with fleas, and every house was full of bedbugs. Bats were 
numerous, and the "public opinion" then was that the bats brought the 

39i 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

bedbugs. This may be given as an illustration of the correctness of public 
opinion. However, we were contented and happy, and used to sing, — 

" Home, home, sweet, sweet home. 
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home." 

Ill 1840 there were doubtless many fine horses in Jefferson County yet 
it seemed to me nearly every horse had stringhalt, ring-bone, spavin, high- 
step, or poll-evil. Horses with poll-evil were numerous then, but the disease 
has apparently disappeared. It was an abscess on the horse's head, behind 
the ears, and was doubtless caused by cruelty to the animal. If a horse did 
not please his master in his work he would be knocked down with a hand- 
spike, a rail, or the loaded butt end of a blacksnake whip. Poor food and 
these blows undoubtedly caused this horrible disease. Sick horses were treated 
in a barbarous manner, not being allowed to lie down, but were whipped, run, 
and held upon their feet. I have seen horses held up with handspikes, rails, 
etc. The usual remedies were bleeding and drenching with filthy compounds. 
" Bots" was the almost unfailing disease. 

The cattle were home stock, big-horned, heavy-bellied, and long-legged. 
They could jump over almost anything, and could outrun the " devil and 
his imps." They were poorly fed, received little care, and had little or no 
stabling. In the spring it was common for cows to be on the " lift." The 
common trouble with cattle was " hollow horn," " wolf in the tail," and loss 
of " cud." These were little else than the results of starvation. I have wit- 
nessed consultations over a sick cow, when one man would declare positively 
she had hollow horn, and another declare just as positively it was wolf in the 
tail. After a spirited dispute they would compromise by agreeing to bore 
her horn and split her tail. If they had called it hollow belly and wolf in 
the stomach they would have been nearer the truth. A better remedy would 
have been a bucket of warm slop, a good stable, and plenty of hay. The 
remedy for " hollow horn" was to bore a gimlet hole in the horn near the head 
and then saturate a cloth with spirits of turpentine and wrap it around the 
horn. The cure for wolf in the tail was to split the tail near the end with 
a knife, and fill the cut with salt and pepper. The cure for " lifts" was to 
call the neighbors, lift the cow to her feet, and prop her up so she could not 
lie down again. The cures for loss of " cud" were numerous and filthy. A 
" sure cure," and common, too, was to roll human excrement in dough and 
force it down the animal's throat. The same remedy was used for " founder." 
If the critter recovered, the remedy was the right one; if it died, the reason 
was the remedy had been used too late. Of course, these conditions were 
all imaginary. They were only diseases resulting from exposure and want 
of nourishing food. A wild onion called " ramp," and a shrub called " trip- 
wood," grew in the woods and were early in their appearance each spring. 
These, of which the cattle ate freely, were often their only dependence for 

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HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

food. All domestic animals then had to have ear-marks on them, or be 
branded. Condensed milk was invented in 1849. 

The hog of that time was a racer, and could outrun the average horse. 
His snort when startled was something terrible. He was of the " razor- 
back" variety, long-bodied, long-legged, and long-snouted. By means of 
his snout he could plough through everything. Of course he was starved in 
the winter, like all the other animals, and his condition resulting from his 
starvation was considered a disease and called " black teeth." The remedy 
for this disease was to knock out the teeth with a hammer and a spike. 

Ignorance was the cause of this cruelty to animals. To the readers 
of this volume the things mentioned are astonishing. But I have only hinted 
at the barbarities then inflicted on these domestic animals, which had no 
rights which man was bound to respect. Not until 1866 was any effort made 
in this country to protect dumb animals from the cruelty of man. In that 
year Henry Berg organized the American society in New York, and to-day 
the movement is felt throughout a great portion of the world. In 1890 there 
were five hundred and forty-seven societies in existence for the prevention 
of cruelty to animals, two hundred and twenty-three of them in the United 
States. " The economic necessity for the existence of societies having for 
their object the better care and protection of animals becomes manifest 
when it is considered that our industries, our commerce, and the supply of 
our necessities and comforts depend upon the animal world. In the United 
States alone it is estimated that there are 14,000,000 horses, valued at $979,- 
000,000. There are also 2,330,000 mules, 16,000,000 milk cows, 36,800,000 
oxen and other cattle, 44,000,000 sheep, and 50,000,000 swine. The total 
domestic animals in 1890 were estimated at 165,000,000, valued at over 
$2,400,000,000." To-day every good citizen gives these humane societies or 
their agents his support, and almost every one is against the man or men 
who in any way abuse dumb beasts. It is not a matter of mere sentiment. 

Along about 1840 the winters were very severe and long, much more 
so than now. Regularly every fall, commencing in November, — 

" Soft as the eider down, 
Light as the spider gown, 
Came the beautiful snow, till 
Over the meadow lots, 
Over our garden plots, 
Over the ponds and the lakes, 
Lay only beautiful flakes. 
Then with this snowing, 
Puffing and blowing, 
Old Boreas came bellowing by, 
Till over the by-ways, 
And over the highways, 
The snow-drifts were ever so high." 
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HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

The snow was several feet deep every winter. It came early and re- 
mained till late. 

I have made frequent reference in these chapters to the old court-house. 
As I find there is some confusion in regard to its size, and as I find our 
county history contains this error : " The court-house, a one-story brick 
building, was finished in 1832," I deem it of sufficient importance to correct 
these errors, and to state that the court-house was a two-story building, 
with a one-story wing on the west extending along Main Street. This wing 
was divided into two rooms, the first for the prothonotary's office and the 
other for the commissioners' office. The main building was two-storied, 
with an attic and belfry. The second story was divided into four good- 
sized rooms, called jury-rooms. The southwest room was used by the Metho- 
dists for a long time for their Thursday evening prayer-meeting. Alexander 
Fullerton was the janitor. The Union Sunday-school was held here for 
years also. The northwest room was used as an armory by the Brookville 
Rifles, — a volunteer company. The other two were used as jury-rooms. I 
have played in every room of the old building, and know every foot of it. The 
building cost three thousand dollars. The contractors were John Lucas and 
Robert P. Barr. It was torn down in 1866 to make room for the present 
fine structure. Our alley-ball games were all played for years behind the 
old court-house. 

Our first jail was a stone structure, built of common stone, in 1831. 
It was two stories high, was situated on the northeast corner of the public 
lot, near Joseph Darr's residence, and fronting on Pickering Street. Daniel 
Elgin was the contractor. The building was divided into eight rooms, two 
down-stairs and two up-stairs for the jail proper, and two down-stairs and 
two up-stairs for the sheriff's residence and office. The sheriff occupied the 
north part. The early church services in this building were held in the 
jail part, up-stairs. This old jail has a history, not the most pleasant to 
contemplate or write about. It was used to imprison run-away slaves, and 
to lodge them over night, by slave captors. Imprisoning men for no other 
crime than desiring to enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness! There 
was a branch of the underground railroad for the escape of slaves running 
through Brookville at that time. As many as twenty-five of those unfor- 
tunate creatures have passed through Brookville in one day. Judge Heath, 
then living in our town, — a great Methodist and an abolitionist, — had to pay 
a fine of two thousand dollars for aiding two slaves to escape from this 
old stone jail ; a big sum of money to pay for performing a Christian, humane 
act, was it not? In this stone jail men were imprisoned for debt, and kept 
in it until the last penny was paid. I have seen some of the best men of that 
day in our county imprisoned in this old jail for debt or bail money. I have 
seen Thomas Hall, than whom I knew no better man, no better Christian, 
an elder in the Presbyterian church, incarcerated in the old stone jail for 

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HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

bail money. He had bailed a relative for the sum of fifty dollars, and his 
relative let him suffer. Honest, big-hearted, generous, Christian Thomas 
Hall ! Thank God that the day for such inhumanities as those stated above 
is gone forever. This old jail was rented after the new one was erected, 
and used as a butcher-shop until it was torn down to make room for the 
present court-house. The butcher always blew a horn when he had fresh 
meat to sell. 

In these days of fine carriages and Brookville wagons it might be well 
to describe the wagon of 1840. It was called the Pennsylvania wagon, was 
wide-tracked, and had wooden axles with iron skeins on the spindles. The 
tongue was stiff, and reached about three feet ahead of the horses. The 
horses were hitched to these wagons by iron trace- and long tongue-chains. 
In rough roads I used to think every time the tongue would strike a horse on 
the leg it would break it. Old team horses undertsood this and would spread 
out to avoid these leg-blows. The wheels were kept in place by means of an 
iron strap and linch-pin. Every wagon carried its own tar on the coupling- 
pole under the hind axle. The carriage of that day was called a dearborn 
wagon. I am unable to describe these, although I used to see them. The 
making of tar was one of the industries then. It retailed at twenty and 
twenty-five cents a gallon, and brought from three to four dollars a barrel at 
Pittsburg. These old wagons would screech fearfully if they were not kept 
properly lubricated with this tar. 

Big political conventions were held in those days, and a great custom 
was to have a young lady dressed in white to represent each of the different 
States, and have all these ladies in one wagon, which would be drawn by 
four or six horses, or sometimes by twenty yoke of oxen. 

In the hotels of that day the " bar" was constructed for the safety of 
the bartender. It was a solid structure with a counter in front, from which 
a sliding door on iron rods could be shoved up and locked, or shut down and 
locked ; hence the hotel man could " bar" himself in and the drunken men 
out. This was for safety in dispensing whiskey, and is the origin of the 
word " bar" in connection with hotels. In 1840 all our hotel bars were so 
made. 

Lumbering in 1840 was one of our principal industries. We had no 
eastern outlet, and everything had to be rafted to Pittsburg. The saw-mills 
were nearly all " up and down" mills. The " thunder-gust" mills were those 
on small streams. All were driven by flutter-wheels and water. It required 
usually but one man to run one of these mills. He could do all the work and 
saw from one to two thousand feet of boards in twelve hours. Pine boards 
sold in the Pittsburg market then at three and four dollars per thousand; 
clear pine at ten dollars per thousand. Of course, these sales were on credit. 
The boards were rafted in the creek in " seven-platform" pieces by means of 
grubs. The oars were hung on what were called thole-pins. The front of 

39S 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

each raft had a bumper and splash-board as a protection in going over dams. 
The creeks then were full of short bends, rocks, and drift. Cables were un- 
known here, and a halyard made from hickory withes or water-beech was 
used as a cable to tie up with. " Grousers" were used to assist in tying up. 
A pilot then received four dollars to the mouth of the creek ; forehands, two 
dollars and expenses. The logging in the woods was all done with oxen. 
The camp and mill boarding consisted of bread, flitch, beans, potatoes, Orleans 
molasses, sometimes a little butter, and coffee or tea without cream. Woods- 
men were paid sixteen dollars a month and boarded, and generally paid in 
store-orders or trade. 

We usually had three floods on which to run this lumber, — spring, June, 
and fall. At these times rafts were plenty and people were scarce, and, as 
time and tide wait for no man, whenever a flood came everybody had to turn 
out and assist to run the rafts. The boy had to leave his school, the minister 
his pulpit, the doctor abandon his patients, the lawyer his briefs, the mer- 
chant his yard-stick, the farmer his crops or seeding. And there was one 
great compensation in this, — nearly everybody got to see Pittsburg. 

" Running down the creek and gigging back" was the business language 
of everybody. "' How many trips have you made ?'" etc. It took about twelve 
hours to run a raft from the neighborhood of Brookville to the mouth, or the 
Allegheny River, and ordinarily it required hard walking to reach home the 
next day. Some ambitious, industrious pilots would " run down in the day- 
time and walk back the same night." James T. Carroll has made four of 
these trips in succession, Joseph Shobert five, and William Green four or 
five. Of course, these pilots remained down the last night. This extraor- 
dinary labor was accomplished without ever going to bed. Although some 
may be incredulous, these are facts, as the parties interested are still alive 
(1895). Pilots sometimes ran all night. Joseph Shobert has started from 
Brookville at five o'clock p.m. and reached the mouth at five o'clock in the 
morning. Other pilots have done this also. There were no rubber goods 
then. 

Pine square timber was taken out and marketed in Pittsburg. No other 
timber was marketable, and then only the best part of the pine could be hewed 
and rafted. Often but one stick would be used from a tree. In Pittsburg 
this timber brought from four to eight cents a foot, running measure. 

The square timber business was then the business. Every lumberman 
followed it, and every farmer ran one timber raft at least. The " taking out 
of square timber" had to be done in the fall, before snow came. The trees 
were felled, -"cut in sticks," "scored in," and hewn smooth and square. 
Each " lumber tract" had its log cabin and barn. The " sticks" were hauled 
to the creek on a " bob" sled in the snow by oxen or horses, and banked until 
time to " raft in" and get ready for the " spring flood." It was the timber 
trade that made the pioneer prosperous and intelligent. 

396 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

The lumbermen could contract with hewers for the cutting, scoring, and 
hewing of pine timber, complete, ready to be hauled, for from three-quarters 
to one and a quarter cents per foot. All timber was generally well faced on 
one side, and was rafted with lash-poles of iron-wood or white oak, and 
securely fastened in position by means of white-oak bows and ash pins. Bows 
and pins were an article of merchandise then. Bows sold at seventy-five cents 
a hundred, and ash pins brought fifty cents a hundred. Grubs for board rafts 
sold at two dollars and fifty cents a hundred. Oar stems were then made 
from small sapling dead pines, shaved down. Pine timber or wild lands 
could then be bought at from one dollar to two dollars per acre. 

Along the lower end of our creeks and on the Allegheny River there 
lived a class of people who caught and appropriated all the loose logs, shingles. 




■: ,:**A 



Rafting on North Fork 



boards, and timber they could find floating down the streams. These men 
were called by the early lumbermen Algerines, or pirates. The name Algerine 
originated thus: In the war of 1812 "the dey of Algiers took the oppor- 
tunity of capturing an American vessel and condemning her crew to slavery. 
Then a squadron of nine vessels commanded by Commodore Decatur, in May, 
1815, appeared in the Mediterranean, captured the largest frigate in the 
Algerine navy, and with other naval successes so terrified the dey that on 
the 30th of June he made certain pecuniar)' indemnities, and renounced all 
future claim to any American tribute or payments, and surrendered all his 
prisoners." 

As there has been considerable agitation over my paragraph on poll- 
evil in horses, I reprint here a slip that has been sent me : 

397 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" AN OLD TIME CURE FOR POLL-EVIL 

" Ed. Spirit, — I am moved by your quotation from Dr. McKnight's 
article in the Brookville Democrat on the old-time nonsense in relation to 
poll-evil in horses to say that the doctor's explanation of the cause of that 
severe affliction on the poor brute's head is in part correct ; but it was mainly 
owing to the low door-ways and the low mow-timbers just above the horse's 
head as he stood in the stall of the old-time log stables. The horse often 
struck his head on the lintel of the low door-way as he passed in and out; 
and as he stood in the stall, when roughly treated by his master, in throwing 
up his head it came in violent contact with the timbers, and continued bruising 
resulted ultimately in the fearful, painful abscesses referred to. There were 
those in that day who had reputations for skill in the cure of poll-evil, and 
their method was this : The afflicted animal must be brought to the doctor 
before the break of day. An axe was newly ground. The doctor must not 
speak a word to an}- person on an)- subject after the horse was given into his 
hand until the feat was performed. Before sunrise the doctor took the axe 
and the horse and proceeded out of sight of any human habitation, going 
toward the east. When such a spot was reached he turned toward the 
animal, bent down its head firmly and gently, drew the sharpened blade of 
the axe first lengthwise, then crosswise of the abscess sufficiently to cause the 
blood to flow, muttering meanwhile some mystic words ; then, just below 
where the head of the horse was, he stuck the bloody axe in the ground, left 
it there, turned immediately around, walked rapidly away, leading the animal, 
and not at all looking back until he had delivered it into the hand of the 
owner, who was waiting at a distance to receive it, and who took it home at 
once. The next morning at sunrise the axe was removed, and in due time the 
cure was effected. 

" An Old-Timer. 
" Smicksburg, Pa., September 7, 1894." 

The first known person to live within the confines of the present borough 
was Jim Hunt, an Indian of die Muncy tribe. He was here as early as 1797, 
and was in banishment for killing a warrior of his own tribe. By an Indian 
law he was not allowed to live in his tribe until the place of the warrior be 
had slain was filled by the capture of another male from white people or 
from other Indians. In 1808 Jim's friends stole a white boy in Westmore- 
land County, Pennsylvania, and had him accepted into the tribe in place of 
the warrior Jim had killed. Jim Hunt's residence or cave was near the 
deep hole, or near the sand spring, on Sandy Lick, and was discovered in 
1843 b)' ^ Ir - Thomas Graham. About 181 2 Jim Hunt left and never re- 
turned. He was a great bear-hunter, having killed seventy-eight in one 
winter. He loved " fire-water," and all his earnings went for this beverage ; 
yet he never dared to get so drunk he could not run to his cave when he 

39S 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

heard a peculiar Indian whoop on Mill Creek hills. His Indian enemies pur- 
sued him, and his Indian friends looked after him and warned him to flee 
to his hiding-place by a peculiar whoop. Little Snow, a Seneca chief, lived 
at the sand spring in 1800, and it was then called " Wolf Spring." 

The first white person to settle in what is now Brookville was Moses 
Knapp. He built a log house about 1801 at the mouth of North Fork Creek, 
on ground now owned by Thomas L. Templeton, near Christ's brewery. The 
first white child born within the limits of what is now Brookville was Joshua 
Knapp, on Mr. Templeton's lot, at the mouth of the North Fork, in the month 
of March, 1810. He is still living (1895) in Pine Creek Township, about 
two miles from the town. About 1806 or 1807, Knapp built a log grist-mill 
where the waters of the North Fork then entered the Red Bank. It was a 
rude mill, and had but one run of rock-stones. In 1818 he sold this mill to 
Thomas Barnett. James Parks, Barnett's brother-in-law, came to run this 
mill about 1824 (Barnett having died), and lived here until about 1830. 
Parks came from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, and brought with 
him and held in legal slavery here a negro man named " Sam," who was the 
first colored person to live in what is now called Brookville. He was a 
large mulatto. 

Joseph B. Graham, Esq., of Eldred Township, informs me that he carried 
a grist on horseback to this mill of one half-bushel of shelled corn for this 
Sam to grind. Mr. Graham says his father put the corn in one end of the 
bag and a big stone in the other end to balance the corn. That was the 
custom, but the 'squire says they did not know any better. Joshua Knapp, 
Uriah Matson, and John Dixon all took grists of corn and buckwheat to this 
mill for " Sam," the miller, to grind. 

" Happy the miller who lives by the mill, 
For by the turning of his hand he can do what he will." 

But this was not so with " Sam." At his master's nod he could grind 
his own " peck of meal," for his body, his work, his life, and his will belonged 
to Parks. Many settlers in early days carried corn to the grist-mill on their 
own shoulders, or on the neck-yoke of a pair of oxen. I have seen both of 
these methods used by persons living ten and fifteen miles from a mill. 

The census of 1830 gives Jefferson County a population of 2003 whites, 
21 free colored persons, and 1 colored slave. This slave was " Sam." 

Brookville was laid out as the county seat in 1830, but it was not in- 
corporated as a borough until April 9, 1834. (See pamphlet laws of 1834, 
page 209.) The first house was erected in August, 1830. The first election 
held in the new borough for officials was in the spring of 1835. Joseph 
Sharpe was elected constable. Darius Carrier and Alexander McKnight were 
elected school directors. The first complete set of borough officers were 
elected in 1835, and were as follows: 

399 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Burgess, Thomas Lucas ; Council, John Dougherty, James Corbet, John 
Pierce, Samuel Craig, Wm. A. Sloan; Constable, John McLaughlin (this 
man McLaughlin was a great hunter, and could neither read nor write; he 
moved to Brockwayville, and from there went West) ; School Directors, Levi 
G. Clover, Samuel Craig, David Henry, C. A. Alexander, Wm. A. Sloan, 
James Corbet. 

In 1840 the borough officers were : 

Burgess, William Jack; Council, Elijah Heath, John Gallagher, Cyrus 
Butler, Levi G. Clover, John Dougherty, William Rodgers; Constable, John 
Dougherty. 

Of these early fathers the only one now living (1895) is Major William 
Rodgers. He resides about a mile from town, on the Corsica road. 

In 1840 the " itch" was in Brookville, and popular all the year round. 
As bath-tubs were unknown and family bathing rare, this itch was the seven- 
year kind. Head-lice among the people and in the schools were also common. 
Had I been familiar with Burns in my boyhood, many a time, while seeing 
a louse crawl on and over a boy or girl in our schools, I could have ex- 
claimed, — 

" O, Jenny, dinna toss your head 
An' set your beauties a' abraed ; 
Ye little ken what cussed speed 
The beast's a makin'." 

The only cure for lice was to " rid" out the hair every few days with a 
big, coarse comb, crack the nits between the thumb-nails, and then saturate 
the hair with " red precipity," using a fine-tooth comb. The itch was cured 
by the use of an ointment made of brimstone and lard. During school-terms 
man}" children wore little sacks of powdered brimstone about their necks. 
This was supposed to be a preventive. 

In 1840 the only music-books we had were " The Beauties of Harmony" 
and " The Missouri Harmony." Each of these contained the old " buck- 
wheat" notes of me, fa, sol, la. Every one could not afford one of these 
books. Music-teachers travelled through the county and taught classes. A 
class was twenty-six scholars, a term thirteen nights, and the tuition-fee fifty 
cents for each scholar. Teachers used " tuning-forks," and some played a 
violin in connection with the class-singing. The teacher opened the singing 
by exhorting the class to " sound your pitches, — sol, fa, la." 

In 1840 Billy Boo, an eccentric, intelligent hermit, lived in a hut on the 
farm in Rose Township now occupied by William Hughey. Although he 
lived in this hut, he spent most of his wakeful hours in Brookville. He was 
a man of good habits, and all that he would tell, or any one could learn of 
him or his nativity, was that he came from England. He was about five feet 
five or six inches high, heavy set, and stoop-shouldered. He usually dressed 
in white flannel clothes. Sometimes his clothing, from being darned so much, 

400 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

looked as if it had been quilted. He lived upon the charity of the people and 
by picking up a few pennies for some light gardening jobs. He died as a 
charge on Brookville borough in 1863. 

Indian relics were found frequently on our hills and in our valleys in 
1840. They consisted of stone tomahawks, darts, arrows, and flints. 

Prior to and during 1840 a form of legalized slavery was practised in 
this State and county in regard to minor children. Poor or destitute children 
were " bound out" or indentured by the poor overseers to masters or mis- 
tresses, — boys until they were twenty-one years of age and girls until they 
were eighteen. Parents exercised this privilege also. All apprentices were 
then bound to mechanics to learn trades. The period of this indenture was 
three years. The law was severe on the children, and in favor of the master 
or mistress. Under these conditions cruelties were practised, and children 
and apprentices tried to escape them. Of course, there were bad children who 
ran away from kind masters and mistresses. The master or mistress usually 
advertised these runaways. I have seen many of these in our papers. I 
reprint one of these advertisements, taken from the Gazette and Columbian, 
published by J. Croll & Co., at Kittanning, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, 
on August 8, 1832 : 

" $5 REWARD 

" Run away from the subscriber, living in the borough of Kittanning, 
on the 22d inst., an indentured apprentice to the Tailoring business, named 
Henry P. Huffman, between 18 or 19 years of age, stout made and black hair, 
had on when he went away a light cotton roundabout, and pantaloons of the 
same, and a new fur hat. Whoever apprehends the said runaway and delivers 
him to the subscriber in Kittanning shall receive the above reward. 

" John Williams. 
" Kittanning, July 25, 1832." 

In the forties the election for State officers was held on the second Tues- 
day of October of each year, and in the absence of telegraphs, railroads, etc., 
it took about four weeks to hear any definite result from an election, and then 
the result was published with a tail to it, — "Pike, Potter, McKean, and 
Jefferson to hear from." It is amusing to recall the reason usually given for a 
defeat at these elections by the unsuccessful party. It was this : " The day 
was fine and clear, a good day for threshing buckwheat ; therefore our voters 
failed to turn out." The editor of the defeated party always published this 
poetic stanza for the consolation of his friends : 

" Truth crushed to earth will rise again, 
The eternal years of God are hers, 
While error, wounded, writhes in pain, 
And dies amidst her worshippers." 
26 401 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

In a Presidential contest we never knew the result with any certainty until 
the 4th of March, or inauguration-day. 

In 1840, according to the census, the United States contained a population 
of 17.062,666 people, of which 2,487,113 were slaves. The employments of 
the people were thus divided: Agriculture, 3,717,756; commerce, 117,575; 
manufactures and trades, 791,545; navigating the ocean, 56,025; navigating 
rivers, canals, etc., 33,067; mining, 15,203; learned professions, 65,236. 

The Union then consisted of 26 States, and we had 223 Congressmen. 
The ratio of population for a Congressman was 70,680. In this computation 
five slaves would count as three white men, although the slaves were not 
allowed to vote. Our territories were populated thus : District of Columbia, 
43,712; Florida, 54,477 ; Wisconsin, 30,945 ; Iowa, 43,112. The chief cities 
and towns were thus populated : 

New York 312,710 

Philadelphia 228,691 

Baltimore 102,313 

New Orleans 102,193 

Boston 93,393 

Cincinnati 46,338 

Brooklyn 35,234 

Albany 33,721 

Charleston 29,261 

Washington 23,364 

Providence 23,171 

Louisville 21,210 

Pittsburg 21,115 

Lowell 20,796 

Rochester 20,191 

Richmond 20,133 

Buffalo 18,210 

Newark 17,293 

St. Louis 16,469 

Portland 15,218 

Salem 16,083 

Brookville 276 

Household or family goods were produced in 1840 to the amount of 
$29,230,380. 

Total amount of capital employed in manufactures, $267,726,579. 

The whole expenses of the Revolutionary War were estimated, in specie, 

at $i35,!93,703- 

In 1840 it was the custom for newspapers to publish in one of their issues, 
after the adjournment of the Legislature, a complete list by title of all the 
enactments of that session. 

In the forties fruit was naturally scarce and inferior in these woods, and, 
as " boys were boys then," all kinds of means, both fair and foul, were resorted 

402 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

to by the boys to get a fill of apples. Johnny Lucas, Johnny Jones, Yankee 
Smith, and Mrs. Fuller used to bring apples and peaches into the village and 
retail them out on the street. I have seen this trick played frequently on 
these venders by two boys, — viz., a boy would go up to the wagon, holding his 
cap with both hands, and ask for a sixpence worth of apples or peaches. The 
vender would then count the apples and drop them into the cap. The boy 
would then let go of the cap with one hand as if to pay, when boy No. 2 would 
snatch the cap and apples out of his hand and run for dear life down the 
street and into the first alley. The owner of the cap, in apparent anger, would 
immediately take after this thief, forget to pay, and in the alley help eat the 
apples. 

In 1840 " shingle weavers" brought their shingles to Brookville to barter. 
A shingle weaver was a man who did not steal timber. He only went into 
the pine-woods and there cut the clearest and best tree he could find, and 
hauled it home to his shanty in blocks, and there split and shaved the blocks 
into shingles. He bartered his shingles in this way : he would first have his 
gallon or two-gallon jug filled with whiskey, then take several pounds of 
Baltimore plug-tobacco, and then have the balance coming to him apportioned 
in New Orleans molasses, flitch, and flour. Many a barter of this kind have 
I billed when acting as clerk. 

Timothy Pickering & Co., Leroy & Linklain, Wilhelm Willink, Jeremiah 
Parker, Holland Land Company, Robert Morris, Robert Gilmore, William 
Bingham, John Nicholson, Dr. William Cathcart, Dr. James Hutchinson, and 
a few others owned about all the land in Jefferson County. This goes a 
great length to disprove the demagogy you hear so much nowadays about the 
few owning and gobbling up all the land. How mam' people own a piece of 
Jefferson County to-day? 

In 1840 the only newspaper published in Jefferson County was the Back- 
woodsman, published in Brookville by Thomas Hastings & Son. Captain 
John Hastings, who is still living in Punxsutawney, was the son. The terms 
of this paper were one dollar and seventy-five cents in advance, two dollars 
if paid within the year, and two dollars and fifty cents if not paid within the 
year. Hastings & Son sold the paper to William Jack. Jack rented the paper 
to a practical printer by the name of George F. Humes, who continued the 
publication until after the October election in 1843, when he announced in an 
editorial that his patrons might go to h — 11 and he would go to Texas. Bar- 
ton T. Hastings and Clark Wilson then bought and assumed control of the 
paper, and published it until 1846 as the Brookville Jeffersonian, Mr. Has- 
tings is still living (1898) in Brookville. 

I reprint here a large portion of the proceedings of an old-time cele- 
bration of the Fourth of July, in 1843, m Brookville. We copy from the 
Backwoodsman, dated August 1, 1843, then edited by George F. Humes. The 
editorial article in the Backwoodsman is copied entire. The oration of D. S. 

403 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Deering, all the regular toasts, and part of the volunteer toasts are omitted 
because of their length. Editor Humes's article was headed 

" FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION 

" The citizens of Brookville and vicinity celebrated the sixty-seventh 
anniversary of American independence in a spirited and becoming manner. 

" The glorious day was ushered in by the firing of cannon and ringing of 
bells. At an early hour the ' Independent Greens,' commanded by Captain 
Hugh Brady, formed into parade order, making a fine appearance, and 
marched through the principal streets, cheering and enlivening the large body 
of spectators, whose attention appeared to be solely drawn to their skilful 
rehearsals of military tactics ; and, after spending some time in a course of 
drilling, joined the large assembly, without distinction of part) or feeling, 
under the organization and direction of John McCrea, Esq., president of the 
day, and Samuel B. Bishop and Colonel Thomas Wilkins, marshals; when 
they proceeded to the court-house, where the Declaration of Independence 
was read in a clear and impressive tone by L. B. Dunham, Esq., after which 
David S. Deering, Esq., delivered an address very appropriate to the occasion, 
touching with point and pathos upon the inducements which impelled our 
fathers to raise the flag of war against the mother-country. The company 
then formed into line, and proceeded to the hotel of Mr. George McLaughlin, 
at the head of Main Street, where they sat down to a well-served, delicious, 
and plentiful repast, the ladies forming a smiling and interesting ' platoon' 
on one side of the table, which added much to the hilarity of the celebration. 
After the cloth was removed, and the president and committees had taken 
their seats, a number of toasts applicable to the times, and as varied in senti- 
ment as the ages of the multitude, were offered and read, accompanied by 
repeated cheering and a variety of airs from the brass band, thus passing the 
day in that union and harmony so characteristic of Americans. It was indeed 
a ' Union celebration.' 

" VOLUNTEER TOASTS 

" By John McCrea. Our Brookville celebration : a union of parties, a 
union of feeling, the union established by our Revolutionary fathers of '76. 
Ma)' union continue to mark our course until time shall be no more. 

" By W. W. Corbet. Liberty, regulated by law, and law by the virtues 
of American legislators. 

" By William B. Wilkins. Henry Clay : a man of tried principles, of 
admitted competency, and unsullied integrity, may he be the choice of the 
people for the next Presidency in 1844. 

" By Evans R. Brady. The Democrats of the Erie district : a form, 
locked up in the chase of disorganization; well squabbled at one side by the 
aAvkward formation of the district. If not locked tight by the side-sticks of 
regular nominations, well driven by the quoins of unity, and knocked in by 

404 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

the sheep's foot of pure principles, it will be battered by the points of whig- 
gery, bit by the frisket of self-interest ; and when the foreman- comes to lift it 
on the second Tuesday of October, will stand a fair chance to be knocked 
into pi. 

" By Michael Woods. Richard M. Johnston, of Kentucky : a statesman 
who has been long and thoroughly tried and never found wanting. His 
nomination for the next Presidency will still the angry waves of political strife, 
and the great questions which now agitate the nation will be settled upon 
democratic principles. 

" By Hugh Brady. The citizens of Jefferson County : they have learned 
their political rights by experience ; let them practise the lesson with prudence. 

" By B. T. Hastings. The Hon. James Buchanan : the Jefferson of 
Pennsylvania and choice for the Presidency in 1844. His able and manly 
course in the United States Senate on all intricate and important subjects 
entitles him to the entire confidence and support of the whole Democracy. 

" By Andrew Craig. Henry Clay : a worthy and honest statesman, who 
has the good of his country at heart, and is well qualified to fill the Presidential 
chair. 

" By A. Hutcheson. American independence : a virtuous old maid, sixty-- 
eight years old to-day. God bless her. 

" By David S. Deering. The Declaration of Independence : a rich legacy, 
bequeathed us by our ancestors. May it be transmitted from one generation 
to another until time shall be no more. 

" By the company. The orator of the day, David S. Deering: may his 
course through life be as promising as his commencement. 

"By D. S. Deering. The mechanics of Brookville: their structures are 
enduring monuments of skill, industry, and perseverance. 

" By George F. Humes. The American Union : a well-adjusted form 
of twenty-six pages, fairly locked up in the chase of precision by the quoins 
of good workmen. May their proof-sheets be well pointed and their regular 
impressions a perfect specimen for the world to look upon. 

" By John Hastings. James Buchanan : the able defender of the rights 
of the people and the high wages candidate for the Presidency in 1844. His 
elevation to that post is now without a doubt." - 

In 1840 the mails were carried on horseback or in stage-coaches. Com- 
munications of news, business, or affection were slow and uncertain. There 
were no envelopes for letters. Each letter had to be folded so as to leave the 
outside blank and one side smooth, and the address was written on this smooth 
side. Letters were sealed with red wafers, and the postage was six and a 
quarter cents for every hundred miles, or fraction thereof, over which it was 
carried in the mails. The postage on a letter to Philadelphia was eighteen and 
three-quarter cents, or three " fippenny bits." You could mail your letter with- 
out prepaying the postage (a great advantage to economical people), or you 

405 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

could prepay it at your option. Postage-stamps were unknown. When you 
paid the postage the postmaster stamped on the letter " Paid." When the 
postage was to be paid by the person addressed, the postmaster marked on it 
the amount due, thus: "Due, 6% cents." 

In 1840 nearly half of our American people could neither read nor write, 
and less than half of them had the opportunity or inclination to do so. News- 
papers were small affairs, and the owners of them were poor and their business 
unprofitable. 

The candles used in our houses were either " dips" or " moulds." The 
" dips" were made by twisting and doubling a number of cotton wicks upon 
a round, smooth stick at a distance from each other of about the desired thick- 
ness of the candle. Then they were dipped into a kettle of melted tallow, when 
the ends of the sticks were hung on the backs of chairs to cool. The dipping 
and cooling process was thus repeated till the " dips" attained the proper 
thickness. This work was done after the fall butchering. " Moulds" were 
made in tin or pewter tubes, two, four, six, eight, ten, or twelve in a frame, 
joined together, the upper part of the frame forming a trough, into which 
the moulds opened, and from which they received the melted tallow. To make 
the candles, as many wicks as there were tubes were doubled over a small 
round stick placed across the top of the frame, and these wicks were passed 
down through the tubes and fastened at the lower end. Melted tallow was 
poured into the trough at the top till all the tubes were filled. The moulds 
were usually allowed to stand over night before the candles were " drawn." 
The possession of a set of candle-moulds by a family was an evidence of some 
wealth. These candles were burned in " candlesticks," made of tin, iron, or 
brass, and each one had a broad, flat base, turned up around the rim to catch 
the grease. Sometimes, when the candle was exposed to a current of air, it 
would " gutter" all away. A pair of " snuffers," made of iron or brass, was 
a necessary article in every house, and had to be used frequently to cut away 
the charred or burned wick. Candles sold in the stores at twelve to fifteen 
cents per pound. One candle was the number usually employed to read or 
write by, and two were generally deemed sufficient to light a store, — one to 
carry around to do the selling by, and the other to stand on the desk to do the 
charging by. 

Watches were rare, and clocks were not numerous in 1840. The watches 
I remember seeing in those days were " English levers" and " cylinder escape- 
ments," with some old " bull's-eyes." The clocks in use were of the eight-day 
sort, with works of wood, run by weights instead of springs. Along in the 
forties clocks with brass works, called the " brass clock," came into use. A 
large majority of people were without " time-pieces." Evening church ser- 
vices were announced thus : " There will be preaching in this house on 

evening, God willing, and no preventing providence, at early candle-lighting." 

In 1840 the judge of our court was Alexander McCalmont, of Franklin, 

406 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Venango County. Our associate judges from 1841 to 1843 were James Wins- 
low and James L. Gillis. Our local or home lawyers were Hugh Brady, 
Cephas J. Dunham, Benjamin Bartholomew, Caleb A. Alexander, L. B. Dun- 
ham, Richard Arthurs, Elijah Heath, D. B. Jenks, Thomas Lucas, D. S. Deer- 
ing, S. B. Bishop, and Jesse G. Clark. Many eminent lawyers from adjoining 
counties attended our courts regularly at this period. They usually came on 
horseback, and brought their papers, etc., in large leather saddle-bags. Most 
of these foreign lawyers were very polite gentlemen, and very particular not to 
refuse a " drink." 

Moses Knapp, Sr., was our pioneer court crier. Elijah Graham was 
our second court crier, but I think Cyrus Butler served in this capacity in 1840. 

In 1840 there was no barber-shop in the town. The tailors then cut hair, 
etc., for the people as an accommodation. My mother used to send me for 
that purpose to McCreight's tailor-shop. The first barber to locate in Brook- 
ville was a colored man named Nathan Smith. He barbered and ran a con- 
fectionery and oyster saloon. He lived here for a number of years, but finally 
turned preacher and moved away. Some high old times occurred in his back 
room which I had better not mention here. He operated on the Major Rodgers 
lot, now the Edelblute property. 

Then " Hollow Eve," as it was called, was celebrated regularly on the 
night of October 31 of every year. The amount of malicious mischief and 
destruction done on that evening in Brookville, and patiently suffered and 
overlooked, is really indescribable. The Presidential contest in 1840, between 
Harrison (Whig) and Van Buren (Democrat) was perhaps the most intense 
and bitter ever known in this nation. 

The first exclusively drug-store in Brookville was opened and man- 
aged by D. S. Deering, Esq., in 1848. It was located in a building where 
McKnight & Brothers' building stands, on the spot where McKnight & Son 
carry on their drug business. The first exclusively grocery-store in Brook- 
ville was opened and owned by W. W. Corbet, and was located in the east 
room of the American Hotel. The first exclusively hardware-store in the 
town was opened and owned by John S. King, now deceased. Brookville 
owes much to the sagacity of Mr. King for our beautiful cemetery. 

In the forties the boring of pitch-pine into pump-logs was quite a business 
in Brookville. One of the first persons to work at this was Charles P. Merri- 
man, who moved here from the East. By the way, Merriman was the greatest 
snare-drummer I ever heard. He also manufactured and repaired drums 
while here. He had a drum-beat peculiarly his own, and with it he could 
drown out a whole band. He introduced his beat by teaching drumming- 
schools. It is the beat of the Bowdishes, the Bartletts, and the Schnells. It 
consists of single and double drags. I never heard this beat in the army or in 
any other locality than here, and only from persons who had directly or in- 
directly learned it from Merriman. Any old citizen can verify the marvellous 

407 



HISTORY OF NORTHAVESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

and wonderful power and skill of Merriman with a drum. No pupil of his 
here ever approached him in skill. The nearest to him was the late Captain 
John Dowling, of the One Hundred and Fifth Regiment, Pennsylvania Vol- 
unteers. It was the custom then for the different bands in the surrounding 
townships to attend the Fourth of July celebrations in Brookville. The 
Monger band, father and sons, from Warsaw Township, used to come. They 
had a peculiar open beat that old Mr. Monger called the 1812 beat. The Belle- 
view band came also ; it was the Campbell band, father and sons. Andrew 
C. and James (1895), after going through the war, are still able on our public 
occasions to enliven us with martial strains. The Lucas band, from Dowling- 
ville, also visited us in the forties. Brookville had a famous fifer in the person 
of Harvey Clover. He always carried an extra fife in his pocket, because he 
was apt to burst one. When he " Mowed" the fife you would have thought 
the devil was in it sure. 

In 1847 t ne town had water- works, the enterprise of Judge Jared B. 
Evans. The spring that furnished the water was what is now known as 
the American Spring. The conduit-pipes were bored yellow-pine logs, and 
the plant was quite expensive; but owing to some trouble about the tannery, 
which stood on the spot where the American barn now stands, the water- 
plant was destroyed. Judge Evans was a useful citizen. He died some three 
years ago. 

In 1840 the church collection was either taken up in a hat with a handker- 
chief in it or in a little bag attached to a pole. 

H. Clay Campbell, Esq., has kindly furnished me the legal rights of 
married women in Pennsylvania from 1840 until the present date. The com- 
mon law was adopted by Pennsylvania, and has governed all rights except 
those which may have been modified from time to time by statute. Black- 
stone's Commentaries, Book I., page 442, says, " By marriage, the husband 
and wife are one person in law ; that is, the very being or legal existence of 
the woman is suspended during the marriage, or at least is incorporated and 
consolidated into that of her husband, under whose wing, protection, and 
cover she performs everything." 

You see the rights surrendered by a woman marrying under the common 
law were two : First, the right to make a contract ; secondly, the right to 
property and her own earnings. To compensate for this she acquired one 
right, — the right to be chastised. For as the husband was to answer for her 
misbehavior, the law thought it reasonable to intrust him with the power of 
restraining her, by domestic chastisement, with the same moderation that a 
man is allowed to correct his apprentice or his children. 

In 1840 married women had no right to the property bequeathed to them 
by their parents, unless it was put into the hands of a trustee, and by marriage 
the husband became the immediate and absolute owner of the personal prop- 
erty of the wife which she had in possession at the time of marriage, and this 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

property could never again revert to the wife or her representatives. She 
could acquire no personal property by industry during marriage ; and if she 
obtained any by gift or otherwise, it became immediately by and through the 
law the property of her husband. This condition prevailed until the passage 
of an act, dated April n, 1848, which in some slight degree modified this 
injustice of the common law. By that act it was provided that all property 
which belonged to her before marriage, as well as all that might accrue to her 
afterwards, should remain her property. Then came another modification by 
the act of 1855, which provided, among other things, that " whenever a hus- 
band, from drunkenness, profligacy, or other cause, shall neglect or refuse to 
provide for his wife, she shall have the rights and privileges secured to a 
femme-sole trader under the act of 1718." Modifications have been made 
from year to year, granting additional privileges to a wife to manage her own 
property, among which may be noted the act of 1871, enabling her to sell and 
transfer shares of the stock of a railroad company. By the act of May, 1874, 
she may draw checks upon a bank. During all these years of enlightenment 
the master has still held the wife in the toils of bondage, and it was with 
great grudging that he acknowledged that a married woman had the right to 
claim anything. The right to the earnings of the wife received its first modi- 
fication when the act of April, 1872, was passed, which granted to the wife, 
if she went into court, and the court granted her petition, the right to claim 
her earnings. But legally the wife remained the most abject of slaves until 
the passage of the "married woman's personal property act'' of 1887, giving 
and granting to her the right to contract and acquire property ; and it was 
not until 1893 that she was granted the same rights as an unmarried woman, 
excepting as to her right to convey her real estate, make a mortgage, or 
become bail. '■•!■ 

The higher education of women in the seminary and college is of Ameri- 
can origin, and in 1840 there was an occasional young ladies' seminary here 
and there throughout the country. These isolated institutions were organized 
and carried on by scattered individuals who had great persistency and courage. 
Being of American origin its greatest progress has been here, and at present 
there are more than two hundred institutions for the superior education of 
women in the United States, and fully one-half of these bear the name of 
college. The women who graduate to-day from colleges and high-schools out- 
number the men, and as a result of this mental discipline and training women 
are now found throughout the world in every profession, in all trades, and in 

every vocation. 

" Preferring sense from chin that's bare 
To nonsense 'throned in whiskered hair." 

Women are now admitted to the bar in nine different States of the Union, 
and by an act of Congress she may now practise before the United States 
Supreme Court. 

409 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

In 1840 women had but seven vocations for a livelihood, — viz., marriage, 
housekeeping, teaching, sewing, weaving, type-setting, and bookbinding. 
Then female suffrage was unknown. To-day (1895) women vote on an 
equality with men in two States (Colorado and Wyoming), and they can vote 
in a limited form in twenty other States and Territories. 

In 1840 women had no religious rights. She did not dare to speak, teach, 
or pray in public, and if she desired any knowledge in this direction, she was 
admonished to ask her husband at home. The only exception I know to this 
rule was in the Methodist Church, which from its organization has recognized 
the right of women to teach, speak in class-meetings, and to pray in the public 
prayer-meeting. 

In 1840 women had no industrial rights. I give below a little abstract 
from the census of 1880, fourteen years ago, which will show what some of 
our women were working at then and are working at now. 

FEMALE WORKERS 

Artists, 2016; authors, 320; assayists, chemists, and architects, 2136; 
barbers, 2902; dressmakers, 281,928; doctors, 2433; journalists, 238; law- 
yers, 75; musicians, 13,181; preachers, 165; printers, 3456; tailors, 52,098; 
teachers, 194,375; nurses, 12,294; stock raisers, 216; farmers, 56,809; in 
government employ as clerks, 2171 ; managing commercial and industrial in- 
terests, 14,465. And now in 1894 we have 6000 post-mistresses, 10,500 women 
have secured patents for inventions, and 300,000 women are in gainful occu- 
pations. I confess that this statement looks to the intelligent mind as though 
" the hand that rocks the cradle" will soon not only move but own the 
world. 

The earliest schools established by the settlers of Pennsylvania were the 
home school, the church school, and the public subscription school, the most 
simple and primitive in style. The subscription or public school remained 
in force until the law of 1809 was enacted, which was intended for a State 
system, and which provided a means of education for the poor, but retained 
the subscription character of pay for the rich. This 1809 system remained in 
force until 1834. The method of hiring " masters" for a subscription school 
was as follows : A meeting was called by public notice in a district. At this 
gathering the people chose, in their own way, three of their number to act as 
a school committee. This committee hired the master and exercised a super- 
intendence over the school. The master was paid by the patrons of the school 
in proportion to the number of days each had sent a child to school. A rate- 
bill was made out by the master and given to the committee, who collected 
the tuition-money and paid it to the master. The terms of these schools were 
irregular, but usually were for three months. 

The studies pursued were spelling, reading, writing, and arithmetic. The 
dailv programme was two or four reading lessons, two spelling lessons, — one 

410 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

at noon and one at evening, — the rest of the time being devoted to writing and 
doing " sums" in arithmetic. It was considered at that time (and even as 
late as my early schooling) that it was useless and foolish for a girl to learn 
more at school than to spell, read, and write. Of course there was no uni- 
formity in text-books. The child took to the school whatever book he had, 
hence there was, and could be, no classification. Blackboards were unknown. 
When any information was wanted about a " sum," the scholar either called 
the master or took his book and went to him. 

The first school-master in Jefferson County was John Dixon. His first 
term was for three months, and was in the year 1803 or 1804. The first 
school-house was built on the Ridgway road, two miles from Brookville, on 
the farm now owned by D. B. McConnell. I give Professor Blose's descrip- 
tion of this school-house: 

" The house was built of rough logs, and had neither window-sash nor 
pane. The light was admitted through chinks in the wall, over which greased 
paper was pasted. The floor was made with puncheons, and the seats from 
broad pieces split from logs, with pins in the under side, for legs. Boards 
laid on pins fastened in the wall furnished the pupils with writing-desks. A 
log fireplace, the entire length of one end, supplied warmth when the weather 
was cold." 

The era of these log school-houses in Jefferson County is gone, — gone 
forever. We have now (1895) school property to the value of $269,300. We 
have 196 modern school-houses, with 262 school-rooms, 295 schools, and the 
Bible is read in 251 of these. There is no more master's call in the school- 
room, but we have 131 female and 149 male teachers, — a total of 280 teachers 
in the county. The average yearly term is six and a half months. The 
average salary for male teachers is $39.50, and for female teachers, $33.00. 
Total wages received by teachers each year, $64,913.20. Number of female 
scholars, 5839 ; number of male scholars, 6073. The amount of tax levied 
for school purposes is $56,688.23. Received by the county from State appro- 
priation, $42,759.72. 

The act of 1809 made it the duty of assessors to receive the names of all 
children between the ages of five and twelve years whose parents were unable 
to pay for their schooling, and these poor children were to be educated by the 
county. This law was very unpopular, and the schools did not prosper. The 
rich were opposed to this law because they paid all the tax-bills, and the poor 
were opposed to it because it created a " caste" and designated them as paupers. 
However, it remained in force for about twenty-five years, and during this 
period the fight over it at elections caused many strifes, feuds, and bloody 
noses. This was the first step taken by the State to evolve our present free- 
school system. The money to pay for the education of these " pauper" chil- 
dren was drawn from the county in this way : " The assessor of each borough 
or township returned the names of such indigent children to the county 

411 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

commissioners, and then an order was drawn by the commissioners on the 
county treasurer for the tuition-money." 

One of the most desirable qualifications in the early school-master was 
courage, and willingness and ability to control and flog boys. Physical force 
was the governing power, and the master must possess it. Nevertheless, 
many of the early masters were men of intelligence, refinement, and scholar- 
ship. As a rule, the Scotch-Irish master was of this class. Goldsmith 
describes the old master well : 

" Yet he was kind, or if severe in aught, 
The love he bore to learning was in fault. 
The village all declared how much he knew, 
'Twas certain he could write and cipher, too. 
In arguing the parson owned his skill, 
For e'en though vanquished he would argue still." 

The government of the early masters was of the most rigorous kind. 
Perfect quiet had to be maintained in the school-room, no buzzing, and 
the punishment for supposed or real disobedience, inflicted on scholars before, 
up to, and even in my time, was cruel and brutal. One punishment was to tie 
scholars up by the thumbs, suspending them in this way over the door. 
" Spare the rod and spoil the child" was the master's slogan. Whippings 
were frequent, severe, and sometimes brutal. Thorn, birch, and other rods 
were kept in large number by the master. Other and milder modes of punish- 
ment were in vogue, such as the dunce-block, sitting with the girls, pulling 
the ears, and using the ferule on the hands and sometimes on the part of the 
body on which the scholar sat. 

" What is man, 
If his chief good and market for his time 
Be but to sleep and feed? A beast, no more." 

In 1840 the country master boarded around with the scholars, and he 
was always given the best bed in the house, and was usually fed on dough- 
nuts and pumpkin-pie at every meal. He called the school to order by rapping 
on his desk with his ferule. 

During the twenty-five years of the existence of the pauper schools the 
agitation for a better system was continually kept up by isolated individuals. 
This was done in various ways, — at elections, in toasts to a " free-school 
system" at Fourth of July celebrations, and in conventions of directors. The 
first governor who took a decided stand in favor of the common schools was 
John A. Schultze. He advocated it in his message in 1828. Governor Wolf, 
in 1833, found that out of four hundred thousand school children of the 
legal age, twenty thousand attended school, and that three hundred and 
eighty thousand were yearly uninstructed. Therefore, in his message to the 

412 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Legislature, he strongly recommended the passage of a law to remedy this 
state of affairs. William Audenreid, a senator from Schuylkill County, intro- 
duced a bill during the session of the Legislature of 1833, which became 
what is known as the school law of 1834, — the establishment of the common- 
school system. Our second State superintendent of public instruction was 
appointed under this law. His name was Thomas H. Burrowes. The first 
State aid for schools in Jefferson County was in 1835. The amount received 
was one hundred and four dollars and ninety-four cents. 

" Barring the master out" of the school-room on Christmas and New 
Year's was a custom in vogue in 1840. The barring was always done by 
four or five determined boys. The contest between the master and these 
scholars was sometimes severe and protracted, the master being determined 
to get into the school-room and these boys determined to keep him out. The 
object on the part of the scholars in this barring out was to compel the 
master to treat the school. If the master obtained possession of the school- 
room, by force or strategy, he generally gave the boys a sound flogging ; but 
if the boys " held the fort," it resulted in negotiations for peace, and in the 
master eventually signing an agreement in writing to treat the school to 
apples, nuts, or candy. It took great nerve on the part of the boys to take 
this stand against a master. I know this, as I have been active in some of 
these contests. 

In 1840 a woman could teach an A, B, C, or " a-b ab," school in summer ; 
but the man that desired to teach a summer school was a lazy, worthless, 
good-for-nothing fellow. Cyrus Crouch taught the first term in Brookville 
under the common-school law of 1834. 

In the forties the school-books in use were the New England Primer, 
Webster's Spelling-Book, Cobb's Spelling-Book, the English Reader, the 
New England Reader, the Testament and Bible, the Malte Braun Geography, 
Olney's Geography, Pike's Arithmetic, the Federal Calculator, the Western 
Calculator, Murray's Grammar, Kirkham's Grammar, and Walker's Diction- 
ary. A scholar who had gone through the single rule of three in the Western 
Calculator was considered educated. Our present copy-books were unknown. 
A copy-book was then made of six sheets of foolscap-paper stitched together. 
The copies were set by the master after school hours, when he also usually 
made and mended the school-pens for the next day. Our pens were made of 
goose-quills, and it was the duty of the master to teach each scholar how to 
make or mend a goose-quill pen. One of the chief delights of a mischievous 
boy in those days was to keep a master busy mending his pens. 

The first school-house in Brookville that I recollect was a little brick 
building on the alley near the northeast side of the American Hotel lot. Mrs. 
Pearl Roundy was the first teacher that I went to. She taught in this house. 
She was much beloved by the whole town. I afterwards went to Hamlin and 
others in this same house. 

413 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

When the first appropriation of seventy-five thousand dollars was made 
by our State for the common schools, a debt of twenty-three million dollars 
rested on the Commonwealth. A great many good, conservative men op- 
posed this appropriation, and " predicted bankruptcy from this new form 
of extravagance." But the great debt has been all paid, the expenses of the 
war for the Union have been met, and now (1895) the annual appropriation 
for our schools has been raised to five and a half million dollars. This 
amount due the schools for the year ending June 5, 1893, was all paid on 
November 1, 1893, and our State treasurer had deposits still left, lying idle, 
in forty-six of our banks, amounting to six and a half million dollars, which 
should have been appropriated for school purposes and not kept lying idle. 
This additional appropriation would have greatly relieved the people from 
oppressive taxation during these hard times. 

The act of May 18, 1893, completed the evolution in our school system 
from the early home, the church, the subscription, the 1809 pauper, the 
1834 common, into the now people's or free school system. 

This free school is our nation's hope. Our great manufacturing inter- 
ests attract immigrants to our land in large numbers, and to thoroughly 
educate their children and form in them the true American mind, and to 
prevent these children from drifting into the criminal classes, will task to 
the utmost all the energies, privileges, and blessed conditions of our present 
free schools. In our free schools of Pennsylvania the conditions are now 
equal. The child of the millionaire, the mechanic, the widow, and the day 
laborer all stand on the same plane. We have now, for the first time in the 
history of our State, in addition to the free school-houses, free desks, free 
fuel, free blackboards, free maps, free teachers, free books, free paper, free 
pens, free ink, free slates, free pencils, free sponges, and, in short, free 
schools. 

In 1840 our houses and hotels were never locked at night. This was 
from carelessness, or perhaps thought to be unnecessary. But every store 
window was provided with heavy outside shutters, which were carefully 
closed, barred, or locked every night in shutting up. 

Then every merchant in Brookville was forced, as a matter of protec- 
tion, to subscribe for and receive a weekly bank-note detector. These 
periodicals were issued to subscribers for two dollars and fifty cents a year. 
This journal gave a weekly report of all broken banks, the discount on other 
State bank-notes, as well as points for the detection of counterfeit notes and 
coin. The coin department in the journal had wood-cut pictures of all the 
foreign and native silver and gold coins, and also gave the value of each. 

Money was scarce then, and merchants were compelled to sell their 
goods on credit, and principally for barter. The commodities that were ex- 
changed for in Brookville stores were boards, shingles, square timber, wheat, 
rye, buckwheat, flaxseed, clover-seed, timothy-seed, wool, rags, beeswax, 

414 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

feathers, hickory-nuts, chestnuts, hides, deer-pelts, elderberries, furs, road 
orders, school and count)' orders, eggs, butter, tow cloth, linen cloth, axe- 
handles, rafting bows and pins, rafting grubs, maple-sugar in the spring, 
and oats after harvest. 

In those days everybody came to court, either on business or to see and 
be seen. Tuesday was the big da}'. The people came on horseback or on 
foot. We had no book-store in town, and a man named Ingram, from 
Meadville, came regularly every court and opened up his stock in the bar- 
room of a hotel. An Irishman by the name of Hugh Miller came in the 
same way, and opened his jewelry and spectacles in the hotel bar-room. 
This was the time for insurance agents to visit our town. Robert Thorn was 
the first insurance agent who came here, at least to my knowledge. 

In 1840 every store in town kept pure Monongahela whiskey in a 
bucket, either on or behind the counter, with a tin cup in or over the bucket 
for customers to drink free of charge, early and often. Every store sold 
whiskey by the gallon. Our merchants kept chip logwood by the barrel, and 
kegs of madder, alum, cobalt, copperas, indigo, etc., for women to use in 
coloring their homespun goods. Butternuts were used by the women to dye 
brown, peach-leaves or smartweed for yellow, and cobalt for purple. Men's 
and women's clothing consisted principally of homespun, and homespun 
underwear. Men and boys wore warmusses, roundabouts, and pants made of 
flannels, buckskin, Kentucky jean, blue drilling, tow, cloth, linen, satinet, bed- 
ticking, and corduroy, with coon-skin, seal-skin, and cloth caps, and in sum- 
mer oat-straw or chip hats. The dress suit was a blue broadcloth swallow- 
tail coat with brass buttons, and a stove-pipe hat. " Galluses" were made 
of listing, bed-ticking, or knit of woollen yarn. Women wore barred flannel, 
linsey-woolsey, tow, and linen dresses. Six or eight yards of " Dolly Var- 
den" calico made a superb Sunday dress. Calico sold then for fifty cents a 
yard. Every home had a spinning-wheel, some families had two, — a big 
one and a little one. Spinning-parties were in vogue, the women taking their 
wheels to a neighbor's house, remaining for supper, and after supper going 
home with their wheels on their arms. Wool-carding was then done by hand 
and at home. Every neighborhood had several weavers, and they wove 
for customers at so much per yard. 

About 1840, Brookville had a hatter, — John Wynkoop. He made what 
was called wool hats. Those that were high-crowned or stove-pipe were 
wreath-bound with some kind of fur, perhaps rabbit-fur. These hatters 
were common in those days. The sign was a stove-pipe hat and a smoothing- 
iron. A Swiss in 1404 invented the hat. There was a standing contest 
between the tailors, hatters, and printers in drinking whiskey (doctors 
barred). 

Then, too, coopers were common in every town. These coopers made 
tubs, buckets, and barrels, all of which were bound with hickory hoops. Our 

415 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

cooper was a Mr. Hewitt. His shop was on the alley, rear of the Commercial 
Hotel lot. These are now two lost industries. 

In 1840 there was but one dental college in the world, — the Baltimore 
College of Dental Surgery, established in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1839, — 
the first dental college ever started. Up to and in that day dentistry was 
not a science, for it was practised as an addenda by the blacksmith, barber, 
watchmaker, and others. In the practice no anatomical or surgical skill was 
required. It was something that required muscular strength and manual 
dexterity in handling the " turnkey." With such a clumsy, rude condition 
of dentistry, is it any wonder that Tom Moore wrote these lines? — 

" What pity, blooming girl, that lips so ready for a lover, 
Should not beneath their ruby casket cover one tooth of pearl, 
But like a rose beneath a church-yard stone, 
Be doomed to blush o'er many a mouldering bone." 

The pioneer native American dentist was John Greenwood. 

All the great discoveries and improvements in the science and art of 
dentistry as it is to-day are American. Dentistry stands as an American in- 
stitution, not only beautified, but almost perfected upon a firm pedestal, a 
most noble science ; and, through the invention, by Charles W. Peale, of 
Philadelphia, of porcelain teeth, our molars shall henceforth be as white as 
milk. If Moore lived to-day, under the condition of American dentistry, he 
might well exclaim, in the language of Akenside, — 

" What do I kiss ? A woman's mouth, 
Sweeter than the spiced winds from the south." 

In 1796, when Andrew Bamett trod on the ground where Brookville 
now stands, slavery existed throughout all Christendom. Millions of men, 
women, and children were held in the legal condition of horses and cattle. 
Worse than this, the African slave-trade — a traffic so odious and so loudly 
reproved and condemned by the laws of religion and of nature — was carried 
on as a legal right by slave-dealers in and from every Christian nation. The 
horror with which this statement of facts must strike you only proves that 
the love of gold and the power of evil in the world is most formidable. 
The African slave-trade was declared illegal and unlawful by England in 
1806-07, by the United States in 1808, by Denmark, Portugal, and Chile in 
181 1, by Sweden in 1813, by Holland in 1814-15, by France in 1815, and 
by Spain in 1822. 

When Andrew Barnett first trod the ground where Brookville now 
stands the curse of slavery rested on Pennsylvania, for in that year three 
thousand : seven hundred and thirty-seven human beings were considered 
" property" within her borders and held as slaves. 

416 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" Chains him and tasks him, and exacts his sweat 
With stripes, that Mercy with a bleeding heart 
Weeps when she sees it inflicted on a beast." 

In 1840 slavery still existed in Pennsylvania, the total number being 
75, distributed, according to the census of that year, as follows: Adams 
County, 2 ; Berks, 2 ; Cumberland, 25 ; Lancaster, 2 ; Philadelphia, 2 ; York, 
1; Greene, 1; Juniata, 1; Luzerne, 1; Mifflin, 31; Union, 3; Washington, 
2; Westmoreland, 1; Fayette, 1. 

It will be seen that no slave was held or owned in Jefferson County. 
There is not, to-day, a slave in all Christendom, after a struggle of nearly 
two thousand years. 

" Little by little the world grows strong, 
Fighting the battle of Right and Wrong. 
Little by little the Wrong gives way; 
Little by little the Right has sway; 
Little by little the seeds we sow 
Into a beautiful yield will grow." 

In 1840, according to the census, there were fifty-seven colored people 
and no slaves in Jefferson County. The most prominent of these colored 
people who lived in and around Brookville were Charles Southerland, called 
Black Charley ; Charles Anderson, called Yellow Charley ; John Sweeney, 
called Black John ; and George Hays, the fiddler. Charles Southerland came 
to Jefferson County and settled near Brookville in 1812. He came from 
Virginia, and was said to have held General Washington's horse at the laying 
of the corner-stone of the national capitol at Washington. He was a very 
polite man, a hard drinker, reared a family, and died in 1852, at the advanced 
age of nearly one hundred years. 

Charley always wore a stove-pipe hat with a colored, cotton handker- 
chief in it. He loafed much in Clover's store. The late Daniel Smith was a 
young man then, and clerked in this store. Mr. Smith in his manhood built 
the property now owned and occupied by Harry Matson. Charley Souther- 
land, if he were living now, would make a good Congressman, because he 
was good on appropriations. One day there was no one in the store but 
Smith and Charley. There was a crock of eggs on the counter. Smith had to 
go to the cellar and left the store in the charge of Charley. On returning 
he glanced in the direction of the eggs, and discovered that Charley had pil- 
fered about a dozen of them. Where were they? He surmised they must 
be in Charley's hat ; so stepping in front of Southerland, he brought his right 
fist heavily down on his hat, with the exclamation, " Why the h — 11 don't you 
wear your hat on your head?" Much to the amusement of Smith and the 
discomfort of Southerland, the blow broke all the eggs, and the white and 
yellow contents ran down over Charley's face and clothes, making a striking 
contrast with his sooty black face. 

27 417 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

The lives of many good men and women have been misunderstood and 
clouded by the thoughtless, unkind words and deeds of their neighbors. Good 
men and women have struggled hard and long, only to go down, down, 
poisoned and persecuted all their days by the venomous and vicious slanders 
of their neighbors ; while, strange to say, men and women who are guilty of 
all the vices are frequently apologized for, respected, and are great favorites 
with these same neighbors. 

It is unfortunate enough in these days to have been painted black by 
our Creator, but in 1840 it was a terrible calamity. A negro then had no 
rights ; he was nothing but a " d — d nigger ;" anybody and everybody had 
a right to abuse, beat, stone, and maltreat him. This right, too, was pretty 
generally exercised. I have seen a white bully deliberately step up in front 
of a negro, in a public street, and with the exclamation, " Take that, you d — d 




Western entrance to Brookville, 1S40 



nigger!" knock him down, and this, too, without any cause, word, or look 
from the negro. This was done only to exhibit what the ruffian could do. 
Had the negro, even after this outrage, said a word in his own defence, the 
cry would have been raised, " Kill the d — d nigger !" I have seen negro men 
stoned into Red Bank Creek, for no crime, by a band of young ruffians. I 
have seen a house in Brookville borough, occupied by negro women and chil- 
dren, stoned until every window was broken and the door mashed in, and all 
this for no crime save that they were black. It used to make my blood boil, 
but I was too little to even open my mouth. A sorry civilization, was it not? 
The accompanying cut represents Brookville as I first recollect it, — 
from 1840 to 1843, — a town of shanties, and containing a population of two 
hundred and fortv people. It is made from a pencil sketch drawn on the 

418 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

ground in 1840. It is not perfect, like a photograph would make it now. To 
understand this view of Main Street, imagine yourself in the middle of the 
then pike, now street, opposite the Union or McKinley Hotel, and looking 
eastward. The first thing that strikes your attention is a team of horses 
hauling a stick of timber over a newly-laid, hewed-log bridge. This bridge 
was laid over the deep gully that can now be seen in G. B. Carrier's lot. 
Looking to the left side of the street, the first building, the gable end of 
which you see, was the Presbyterian church, then outside of the west line of 
the borough. The next, or little house, was Jimmie Lucas's blacksmith-shop. 
The large house with the paling fence was the residence and office of John 
Gallagher, Esq., and is now the Judge Clark property. The next house was 
east of Barnett Street, and the Peace and Poverty Hotel. East of this hotel 
you see the residence and tailor-shop of Benjamin McCreight. Then you see 
a large two-story house, which stood where the Commercial Hotel now stands. 
This building was erected by John Clements, and was known as the Clements 
property. Then there was nothing until you see the court-house, with its 
belfry, standing out, two stories high, bold and alone. East of this and 
across Pickering Street, where Harry Matson now resides, was a large 
frame building, occupied by James Craig as a store-room for cabinet-work. 
Rev. Gara Bishop resided here for a long time. Next to this, where Guyther 
& Henderson's store now stands, were several brick business buildings belong- 
ing to Charles Evans. Next came Major William Rodgers's store, on what 
is now the Edelblute property. Then came Jesse G. Clark's home; then the 
Jefferson House (Phil. Allgeier's house), and the present building is the 
original, but somewhat altered. Then across the alley, where Gregg's barber- 
shop now is, was the Elkhorn, or Red Lion Hotel, kept by John Smith, who 
was sheriff of the county in 1840. The next house was on the Mrs. Clements 
property, and was the home and blacksmith-shop of Isaac Allen. Then came 
the Matson row, just as it is now down to the Brownlee house, northeast 
corner of Main and Mill Streets. 

Now please come back and look down the right-hand side. The first 
building, the rear end of which only can be seen behind the tree, was the first 
foundry built in town. It stood near or on the ground where Fetzer's brick 
building, the rear end of which, only, can be seen behind the tree, was the first 
was afterwards the Evans foundry. When built it was outside the borough. 
The second house, with the gable next the street, was the house of James 
Corbet,. Esq., father of Colonel Corbet, and it stood where the gas-office 
now is. The next and large building, with the gable-end next the street, was 
called the James Hall Building, and stood on the ground now occupied by 
the Bishop Buildings. This building was used for day-school and singing- 
school purposes. I went to day-school here to Miss Jane Clark then, now 
Mrs. E. H. Darrah. It was also used by a man named Wynkoop. who made 
beaver hats. The next building was a house erected by a Mr. Sharpe, and 

419 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

was located on the lot west of where the National Bank of Brookville now 
stands. The building having the window in the gable-end facing you was the 
Jack Building, and stood on the ground now occupied by McKnight & Son 
in their drug business. East of this, on the ground now occupied by R. 
M. Matson's brick, stood a little frame building, occupied by John Heath, Jr. 
It cannot be seen. East and across Pickering Street you see the Franklin 
House and its sign. Here now stands the Central Hotel of S. B. Arthurs. 
Fast of the Franklin House, but not distinctly shown on the picture, were 
the houses of Craig, 'VYaigley. Thomas M. Barr, Levi G. Clover. Mrs. Mary 
McKnight, Snyder's row, and Billy McCullough's house and shop, situate on 
the corner of Main and Mill Streets, or where the Baptist church now stands. 

The buildings on each side of Pickering Street, east of the court-house. 
you will see. are not very plain or distinct on the picture. 

These recollections were published in 1805. 




««Vd «^5Vd «^V» «VKid «/"}d <•/"¥* «^5V* CtffV* «^d 

eO^ «wa ?u? jO? ?y« ?y? euJ« i»9 ?y? 



CHAPTER XXII 



PIONEER PREACHERS AND CHURCHES IN NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 
"Have we not all One Father? Hath not one God created us?" 

In 1893 the Rev. Robert Audely Brown, D.D., of New Castle, Penn- 
sylvania, in writing of the United Presbyterian Branch of the Presbyterian 
Church of one hundred years ago, says, — 

" We can only imagine the labors of these men as they worked after the 
ideal of the Scottish pastorate in the new part of the new world. We cannot 
doubt their fidelity. But no record, printed or written, remains of their visits 
from house to house and other kindred pastoral labors. 

" More durable, however, than marble, is their influence among the 
living forces of to-day. To estimate their labors better, let us remember 
the contemporaneous civil and political events that embarrassed their pas- 
torates. 

"The Indian wars had called for soldiers from their communities and 
congregations up till now. It was only this very year that Wayne's victory 
ended these wars. Sons, brothers, and fathers were many of them in the 
field. Fort Pitt was the rendezvous and point of departure of troops gathered 
from the surrounding counties of Western Pennsylvania. As late as 1791 
St. Clair's defeat had brought sorrow to many families and terror to homes 
in prospect of bloody raids and massacres that might follow in Pennsylvania 
and Virginia. 

" More distracting and injurious to religion than Indian wars was the 
Whiskey Insurrection, which from 1791 until 1794 filled men's minds, and 
which was crushed only in the latter year. The three Pennsylvania pastors 
were located in the very centre of the excitement ; armed resistance, fire, and 
bloodshed, signalized ground only a few miles from where we are now met. 
The member who represented this district in Congress was an elder in the 
pastoral charge of Matthew Henderson. This was William Findley, of West- 
moreland County, grandfather of the late Dr. William Findley, long con- 
nected with Westminster College. Standing on the side of justice, law, and 
order, as our predecessors necessarily did, it cannot be doubted but that they 
felt the force of adverse currents where in the various communities in which 
they lived men rose to the point of insurrection against what was conceived 
to be a hardship and injustice in having that one industry taxed which brought 
them money, and that from far-off markets east, reached by rugged mountain 

421 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

roads or by long and perilous voyage down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to 
New Orleans. 

" But these pastors found a worse enemy still to counteract their work. 
Worse than Indian wars, worse than the Whiskey Insurrection, was whiskey 
itself. Whiskey was the chief manufacture of the West and eminently of the 
two regions which this Presbytery occupied, and certainly this seems a sin- 
gular fact. Old Monongahela whiskey in Pennsylvania and Old Bourbon 
whiskey of Kentucky occupied the very centre of these fields which God had 
allotted the new Presbytery ; and as the Prince of Persia withstood the Angel 
Michael, in Daniel's vision, so this agency of Satan impeded and impaired the 
sacred work of the laborers for the gospel. Many of the more well-to-do 
owners of the farms (nearly all were farmers), were the owners also of stills, 
and for themselves and less prosperous neighbors turned grain into whiskey, 
in which more portable form their harvests reached a distant market, and so 
commanded money. There was hard toiling amid the stumps. The belief 
that whiskey was ' a good creature of God' infested men's minds. So in prac- 
tice they were true to principle. What was good for others was certainly 
good also for themselves. They were consumers as well as producers. The 
farmer and his boys all drank. The store-keeper kept liquor free for his 
customers, on the counter. The guest in respectable homes was treated to 
it universally. The pastor was expected to drink it as a pledge of hospitality 
on entering a dwelling, and again to drink at his departure. If he made 
twelve visits in a day he had taken twenty-four drinks. It is a wonder that 
religion survived. Many members of the church were tipplers ; some were 
often (in common phrase) ' the worse for liquor,' and some were confirmed 
drunkards and died such. How many of the baptized of the church and the 
unbaptized and those out of the church were lost, who can tell ? But the loss 
was fearful. It included the loss of souls and bodies and standing. It changed 
the course of lives, it wasted fortunes. It ruined the individual, and doomed 
his family and friends to be losers by all the interests they had in him. And 
it inflicted a burden and a blight on the community and the church. These, 
indeed, grew, but it was not liquor made them grow, but the wonderful wealth 
of a new and virgin land rewarding the productive industry of a new people, 
and causing them to grow despite the fearful drain upon their resources. The 
church has gained even with the curse of the drinking usage its chief enemy. 
But what it might have achieved but for liquor no man can estimate. Even 
the ministry, in instances, became victims ; more than one wreck caused pain 
and shame later, and demanded discipline in the form of admonition, warn- 
ing, suspension, or deposition. But this statement does not apply to the 
fathers of the Presbytery ; and only to a few of those who afterwards became 
members. It was no wonder some of them were drunkards ; it is, on the 
contrarv, a wonder they were not all drunkards. It is a proof of the grace 
of God and the truth of Christianity that it survived, — an evidence that the 

422 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

church has a living power from God that it grew, though thus weighted down 
and fettered, until a time came when another principle became ascendant, — 
namely, that instead of the drinking of an intoxicant being a just use of ' one 
of God's good creatures," the making and use of alcoholic poisons as beverages 
is an essential immorality." 

BUTLER COUNTY 
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 

Butler in 1813. Middlesex, in 1802, by Rev. Abraham Boyd. West 
Minister, in 1835, by Rev. Abraham Boyd. Buffalo, in 1843, by R- ev - Abra- 
ham Boyd. North Butler, in 1846, by Rev. Coulter. Bear Creek, in 1800, 
by Rev. William Morehead. Concord, in 1804, by Rev. John McPherrin. 
Harrisville, in 1807. Martinsburg, in 1822. Muddy Creek, in 1799, by Rev. 
John McPherrin. Pleasant Valley, in 1844, by Rev. Joseph Moore. New 
Salem, in 1847. Scrubgrass, in 1802, by Rev. Robert Johnston. 

Rev. John McPherrin was the pioneer Presbyterian preacher in Butler 
County in 1805. 

M. E. CHURCH 

Butler, in 1825, by Rev. John Chandler. Lancaster, in 1841. Harmony, 
in 1842. Forward, in 1827. Knox, in 1823. Prospect, in 1844, by Rev. 
Samuel Crouse. Centreville Borough, in 1831. Harrisville Borough, in 1833. 
Martinsburg, in 1834, by Rev. Gilmer. Washington, in 1842. 

LUTHERAN CHURCH 

St. Mark's, in 1827. Grace, in 1843, by Rev. Bassler. Zion, in 1840, 
by Rev. Schweitzerbarth. St. Paul's, in 183 1, by Rev. Schweitzerbarth. Pros- 
pect, in 1842, by Rev. Bassler. 

EC0N0MITE CHURCH 

In 1804, by Rev. John Rapp. 

UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 

Evansburg, in 1837, by Rev. Isaiah Niblock. Mt. Pleasant, in 1847, by 
Rev. Guthrie. Glade Run, in 1817, by Rev. Bruce. Prospect, in 1825, by- 
Rev. Greer. Slippery Rock, in 1807, by Rev. John Anderson. Harmony, in 
1800. Venango, in 1800, by Rev. Thomas McClintock. Centreville Borough, 
in 1848, by Rev. Findley, D.D. 

ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 

Butler, in 1822, by Rev. Charles Perry. St. Mary's, in 1841. St. Pat- 
rick's, Millerstown, in 1801, Father Lanigan. 

BAPTIST CHURCH 

Zion, in 1841, by Rev. Daniel Daniels. 

423 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

CRAWFORD COUNTY 

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 

Cochranton, in 1848. Fairfield, in 1810, by Rev. Robert Johnston. Rome 
Township, in 1815. by Rev. Amos Chase. Evansburg. in 181 1, by Rev. 
Robert Johnston. Spartansbnrg, in 1844, by Rev. Hampson. Conneautville, 
in 1S35, by Rev. Hassinger. Harmonsbnrg. in 1829, by Rev. David 
McKinney. Titusville, in 1815, by Rev. Amos Chase. 

The Rev. Elisha McCurdy and Rev. Joseph Stockton were the first 
ordained ministers who preached within the bounds of what is now Crawford 
County, — to wit, in 1799. 

Rev. Stockton was the first stated preacher in Meadville in the year 1S00. 

The Second Presbyterian Church of Meadville was organized in 1839. 

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH 

Centreville, in 1841, by Rev. Lucius Parker, Meadville, in 1825, by Rev. 
John M. Merrick. Richmond, organized and maintained by John Brown, of 
Ossawatomie fame. 

LUTHERAN CHURCH 

The pioneer Lutheran preacher in Crawford County was Rev. S. Muck- 
enhaupt. He preached at Meadville, Conneaut Lake, and Venango from 1803 
to 1 80S. 

Saegertown, in 1826. Meadville, in 1815, by Charles W. Colson. Free- 
will Baptist, Greenwood Township, in 1832, by Rev. George Collins. 

EPISCOPAL 

Meadville, in 1825, by Rev. J. H. Hopkins. 

CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN 

Meadville, in 1834. 

UNIVERSALIST 

Titusville, in 1844. 

M. E. CHURCH 

Beaver Centre, in 1S39. Bloomfield, in 1840. Cambridge Borough, in 
1832. Freys. in 1818. Cochranton, in 1839, by Rev. Patterson. Geneva, in 
1820. Hayfield, in 1826, by Rev. Tackett. Coons Corner, in 1844. Mead, 
in 1812, by Rev. J. Graham. Espyville, in 1831. Centre Chapel, in 1825, 
by Rev. Thomas Carr. Hydetown, in 1847. Guys Mills, in 1822. Richmond, 
in 1822, by Rev. Hatton. Hartstown, in 1840. Saegertown, in 1839. State 
Line, in 1819, by Rev. E. Morse. Gravel Run, in 1810, by Rev. Joshua 
Monroe. Meadville, in 1825, by Rev. Robert C. Hatton. North Richmond, 
in 1840. Centreville, in 1S31. Evansburg, in 1840. North Bank, in 1824, 
by Rev. Charles Thorn. Spartansbnrg, in 1827, by Rev. I. H. Tackett. 

424 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Spring Borough, in 1828, by Rev. Daniel Richie. Steuben, in 1845. Dick " 
sonburg, in 1801, by Rev. James Quinn. Harmonsburg, in 1840. Union, 
in 1826, by Rev. John Leach. Skelton in 1843, by Rev. Schofield. Venango, 
in 1842, by Rev. Kellar. Vernon, in 1843. 

UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 

Hartstown, in 1830, by Rev. S. F. Smith. Evansburg, in 1815. She- 
nango, in 1801, by Rev. Daniel McLain. Cochranton, in 1827, by Rev. Samuel 
Smith. Fairfield, in 1834, by Rev. Snodgrass. North Shenango, in 1849. 

BAPTIST CHURCH 

Cambridge Borough, in 1812. Carmel, Cussewago Township, in 1805. 
by Rev. Thomas G. Jones. Mead, in 1838, by Rev. Enos Stewart. Guys 
Mills, in 1820. Bloomfield, in 1820, by Rev. James Williams. Spring Town- 
ship, in 1837, by Elder Keith. Spring Borough, in 1833. Townville, in 1836. 
Meadville, in 1831, by Rev. Adrian Foote. 

ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 

Crossingville, in 1833. Frenchtown, in 1837. 

CLARION COUNTY 
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 

New Rehoboth, in 1802. Licking, in 1802. Concord, in 1807. Rich- 
land, in 1823. Bethesda, May 19, 1836. Callensburg, in 1838. Clarion, May 
15, 1841. Greenwood, June 3, 1841. Leatherwood, May 14, 1842. Mill 
Creek, April 22, 1844. 

LUTHERAN CHURCH 

The pioneer preacher was a travelling missionary named Rev. Peter 
Rupert, in the year 1814. The pioneer resident minister was Rev. Henry 
Koch. 

St. John's, about 181 1. Mt. Zion, in 1823, by Rev. Gabriel Reichart. St. 
John's, Fryeburg, in 1825, by Rev. Reichart. Salem, in 1830, by Rev. H. D. 
Keyl. Emanuel, in 1839, by Rev. George F. Ehrenfield. Mt. Zion, Licking, 
in 1846, by Rev. Ehrenfield. St. John's, Smithland, in 1846, by Rev. William 
Uhl. 

ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 

A mission existed at Fryeburg in 1820. St. Nicholas Church was or- 
ganized between 1827 and 1833. The log-church was erected in 1833. A 
congregation was formed in Clarion in 1841. 

The pioneer church erected in the county was of logs (Rehoboth) in 
1808. The Methodists were in the saddle before 1812, the pioneer preacher 
being Francis Asbury Montjar. 

425 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

PIONEER UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES 

In 1802 Rev. John Dickey preached in cabins and barns. 

In 1808, a congregation was organized at Rimersbnrg, called Cherry 
Run, by Rev. John Dickey. 

In 1849, the United Presbyterian Presbytery of Clarion was organized 
by four ministers. — to wit. Rev. John Todd, Rev. John Hindman, Rev. John 
McAuley, and Rev. John Telford. 

ELK COUNTY 
METHODIST CHURCH 

Ridgway, in 1833, Mission, by Revs. Benjamin F. Sedwick and Abner 
Jackson. 

Pioneer Sunday-school in Ridgway, April 14, 1850, by Rev. R. L. 
Blackmar. 

ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 

St. Mary's, in 1842, by Father Alexander, and in 1843 by Father Burgess. 
St. Boniface (now Kersey), before St. Mary's. Father Smith, first resident 
priest. 

PIONEER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 

Rev. John Wray was the first Presbyterian minister in 1851 to regularly 
" cry aloud" to the people of Ridgway, " Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven 
is at hand. Come buy wine and milk without money and without price." 
During my two years' stay he preached regularly once in four or six weeks. 
He may have had a few female members in his church, but to my observation 
the people generally* preferred the " world, the flesh, and the devil," whiskey 
and New England rum. 

In 1855 the pioneer Protestant church building was commenced in Elk 
County. I was then living in Ridgway and working in the Advocate office. 

All I know about that is this : One day a large, fine-looking, well-dressed 
man came into the printing-office and requested Mr. Powell to subscribe some- 
thing for a church. Mr. Powell was poor, and demurred. The man per- 
sisted, but Mr. Powell further objected, whereupon the stranger became 
indignant, and vehemently declared, " It is a G — d d — n shame there isn't a 
Protestant church in the county, and I'll be G — d d — d if I stop till there 
is one!" At the end of this Christian exhortation Mr. Powell subscribed five 
dollars. The scene was so dramatic and ridiculous that I inquired who the 
stranger was, and Mr. Powell told me he was Alfred Pearsall, from Jay 
Township. I understood afterwards Mr. Pearsall succeeded and erected his 
church, called Mount Zion Methodist Church. 

426 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

JEFFERSON COUNTY 
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 

The pioneer Presbyterian minister to preach in what is now Jefferson 
County, was a Rev. Greer, a friend of Joseph Barnett. He came in 1801, 
remaining two weeks, and preached several times. He returned to Port 
Barnett in 1802, and again preached. Joseph Barnett was an ultra Presby- 
terian. Preaching seems to have been in the settlement in June, 1809. At 
that time a communion service was held in the house of Peter Jones, on the 
farm recently occupied by John McCullough, a mile east of Brookville. Robert 
McGarrah administered the Lord's Supper there. He was then pastor of 
Licking and New Rehoboth, now in Clarion County. He had come to the 
Clarion region as a licentiate of the Presbytery of Redstone, in the fall of 
1803. Whether he visited Port Barnett settlement at that time cannot now 
be ascertained. At all events, when he returned from Fayette County with 
his family, June, 1804, and was ordained pastor of Licking and New Reho- 
both churches, November 12, 1807, he seems to have taken the Port Barnett 
settlement under his care. When he " held the communion," June, 1809, 
certain persons were received into the church in such a way that he baptized 
their children. This much is plain from the memory and Bible record of Mrs. 
Sarah Graham, daughter of Joseph Barnett. 

Rev. McGarrah was highly educated, and able in prayer, yet, like Moses, 
slow of speech, often taking two and three hours to deliver a sermon. He 
preached without notes, and with great earnestness pleaded with his hearers 
to forsake their sins and the errors of their way and turn to the Lord. So 
earnest would he become at times that great tears would roll from his 
eyes to the floor. It was often said that he preached more eloquently by his 
tears than by the power of his voice. He lived poor and died poor, and 
preached in the clothes in which he worked. 

How long Robert McGarrah continued to preach in the house of Peter 
Jones remains uncertain. In 1823 religious services were held in the house 
of Samuel Jones, west of Brookville, on the farm now owned by W. H. 
McAninch. The church was fully organized in a school-house, near the pres- 
ent site of the Jefferson United Presbyterian church, on the Andrews farm, 
now in Clover Township. That seems to have been in 1824. The Allegheny 
Presbytery reported to the Synod of Pittsburg twenty-three churches in 1823. 
In 1824 the Presbytery reported twenty-five churches, and among them Bethel 
and Zelienople, so that the record of the Synod establishes conclusively the 
fact that in the year 1824 Bethel for the first time was recognized as a separate 
congregation. The next record is in the minutes of the Allegheny Presby- 
tery, April, 1825. It there appears as vacant, and, shortly afterwards, as con- 
nected with Red Bank, both having sixty-eight members. 

Bethel church, or Brookville, as organized in the Jefferson school-house, 

427 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

was removed in the fall of 1824, to a farm on the pike from Brookville to 
Clarion. The farm was east of and adjoining the farm now owned by Peter 
B. Cowan, in Union Township, and distant from Brookville three miles. 
There they built a church, and dedicated it " The Bethel" of Jefferson County. 
The church was built of logs, small and closely notched together. It stood to 
the right of the road as one goes toward Clarion, near the pike, and on a 
line between it and the " Old Graveyard." The latter is still in existence, but 
all traces of the old meeting-house are gone. The floor was genuine mother- 
earth, and the seats slabs or boards on logs. A board on two posts constituted 
the pulpit stand, and a seat was made out of a slab or block of wood. The 
first stated preacher in that log-church was Rev. William Kennedy. His name 
appears as a stated supply, October 13, 1825; also April, 1827. Bethel was 
then connected with Red Bank. He ceased to be a member of the Allegheny 
Presbytery after April, 1827. He was dismised to Salem Presbytery, Indiana 
Synod. He became a member of Clarion Presbytery January 17, 1843, and 
died November 2, 1850, aged sixty-seven years and four months. The last 
year of his life was devoted to the congregations of Mount Tabor and Mill 
Creek. He lived and died a mile north of Roseville, Jefferson County, Penn- 
sylvania. 

Rev. William Kennedy was born July 4, 1783, in Chester County, Penn- 
sylvania, and educated at . He was a Latin and Greek scholar. His 

father was born in Ireland, and his mother, Susan Kennedy, nee Doak, was 
from Scotland. His pioneer ministerial career appears to have been in the 
Huntingdon Presbytery at Lewistown, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. He 
married Mary McClure, who died May 31, 1861. 

He was installed and ordained over two churches in 1810, — viz., Lewis- 
town and West Kishacoquillas, in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. He preached 
at these two points for twelve years, at a salary of four hundred dollars per 
year. He was released from the Huntingdon Presbytery in October, 1823, 
and joined the Presbytery of Erie or Allegheny that same year. Under his 
ministrations Bethel had eighty-six members. His pioneer elders were 
Thomas Lucas and James Shields. His church-building was burned down 
about 1832. 

Pisgah, Corsica, in 1833, by John Shoap. Beechwoods, Washington 
Township, in 1832, by Cyrus Riggs. Perry, Perry Township, in 1836, by 
John Reed. Mount Tabor, Eldred Township, in 1840, by David Polk. 

A regular Presbyterian Church had been formed in Punxsutawney in 
1826, and in about 1833 they built a brick church in the Public Square, but 
the feeble organization was not permanent. 

METHODIST CHURCH 

Punxsutawney or Clayville, in 1821, by Rev. Elijah Coleman (local). 
Brookville, in 1829, by Rev. John Johnson. Summerville, in 1830, by Rev. 

428 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Jonathan Avers. Crenshaw, in 1845, by Rev. J. K. Coxson. Mead Chapel, 
in 1847, by Rev. J. R. Lyon. Hopewell, in 1839, by Rev. R. Peck. Barton, 
in 1839, by Rev. John Monks. Zion, in 1849, by Rev. Dean C. Wright. 
Pioneer missionaries in Ringgold, in 1816. Missionary service in Summer- 
ville, in 1822. Missionary service- at Crenshaw, in 1829, by Rev. Oliver Ega. 

The pioneer circuit riders at Punxsutawney were Rev. Ezra Booth and 
Rev. William Wesley. 

In 1822 there were forty-two appointments on this circuit. 

The pioneer Methodist church-building in the county was at Punxsu- 
tawney, in 1834. A frame building was erected and cost one thousand three 
hundred and fifty dollars. Methodist services were held in what is now 
Warsaw Township, in 1842, near the Temple graveyard, by the Rev. John 
Graham. 

The history of Episcopal Methodism in what is now Washington Town- 
ship is quite obscure. It is known that Rev. Abner Jackson in 1833 preached 
occasionally in the old log school-house on Waite's farm, but with what suc- 
cess is unknown. Next it is known that Rev. John Graham, the " Boy 
Preacher," made the old log (Smith) school-house a point in 1843. Graham 
was then on the Luthersburg charge. Daniel Groves was probably the 
pioneer resident Episcopal Methodist. He migrated to the settlement in 1841 
and connected himself and wife with the Luthersburg church by letters, that 
being the nearest class and in the Meadville district, Rev. John Bain being 
the presiding elder. Rev. Elisha Coleman, a county local, ministered in the 
Smith school-house at intervals. Daniel Groves was the father of Methodism 
in the township. 

LUTHERAN CHURCHES 

Zion, in 1836, by Rev. J. G. Young. St. John's, in 1838, by Rev. J. G. 
Young. Mt. Zion, in 1849, by Rev. John B. Breckenridge. 

The pioneer Lutheran services held in the county were by Rev. N. G. 
Scharetts, in 1826. Missionaries who held services in the county in 1829 
were Rev. Henry D. Keyl and Rev. G. Schultze. 

ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCHES 

The pioneer Roman Catholic services were by Father John O'Neil, in 
1832. 

The pioneer priest stationed in Brookville was Father Dean, in 1847. 

MERCER COUNTY 
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 

Young Presbyterian ministers as missionaries visited every community in 
the county before the close of 1800. It is impossible to determine which was 
the pioneer church. Fairfield was organized September, 1799. Neshannock 

429 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

was organized about 1800, Rev. William Wick, pastor. Hopewell, about the 
same time by the same pastor. Coolspring was organized in 1800 ; Rev. 
Samuel Tait was pastor. Lower Neshannock, now New Castle, was organized 
in 1803, Rev. Alexander Cook, pastor. Plain Grove was organized in 1800, 
Rev. William Wood, pastor. Centre was organized in 1801, Rev. William 
Wood, pastor. First Presbyterian, of Mercer, was organized in 1804, Rev. 
Samuel Tait, pastor. Rocky Springs was organized in 1801, Rev. Robert 
Lee, pastor. Amity was organized in 1825. Upper Sandy, now George- 
town, was organized in 1799. Moorfield was organized in 1802, Rev. 
James Satterfield, pastor. Sandy Lake was organized in 1835. Greenville 
was organized in 1825, Rev. James Alexander, pastor. Big Ben was organ- 
ized in 1825, Rev. James Alexander, pastor. The United Presbyterian 
Church of Greenville is the old Seceder organization of 1802, Rev. Daniel 
McLain, pastor. Unity Church of Greenfield was organized in 1832. Orange- 
ville was organized in 1825. Shenango Township Beulah Church was organ- 
ized in the fall of 1839. 

METHODIST CHURCH 

The pioneer preacher in the county was Rev. R. R. Roberts, afterwards 
Bishop Roberts, in the spring of 180 1. At this date the whole region was 
in the Baltimore Conference. This was the beginning of Methodism in Mercer 
County. The M. E. Church of Mercer Borough was organized about 1820. 
Sharon M. E. Church was organized in 1805. Greenville M. E. Church was 
organized in 1828. Sharpsville M. E. Church was organized in 1836. Sheak- 
leyville M. E. Church was organized in 1830. Clarksville M. E. Church was 
organized in 1820. Millbrook M. E. Church was organized in 1816. Hen- 
derson M. E. Church was organized in 1833. Salem M. E. Church was 
organized in 1807. New Vernon was organized in 1840. Springfield Naza- 
reth Church was organized in 1822. 

BAPTIST CHURCH 

Sharon was organized in 1802, Rev. David Phillips, pastor. Greenville 
was organized in 1847, Rev. Jeremiah Hazen, pastor. Georgetown Church 
was organized in 1807, Thomas G. Jones, pastor. West Salem Baptist 
Church was organized in 1807, Rev. Thomas Jones, pastor. 

UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 

Mercer was organized in 1801, Rev. Thomas McClintock, pastor. Second 
United Presbyterian Church, Mercer, was organized about 1805. Greenville 
was organized about 1802. Sheakleyville United Presbyterian Church was 
organized in 1818. Middlesex United Presbyterian Church was organized 
in 1829. Clarksville United Presbyterian Church was organized in 1848. 

430 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

MISCELLANEOUS CHURCHES 

Mercer, Grace Episcopal, was organized in 1827. Lutheran was organ- 
ized in 1840. Congregational was organized on March 27, 1847. Sharon, 
Christian Church was organized on June 28, 1828. Protestant Methodist 
Church was organized in 1836. Sacred Heart Catholic was organized in 
1845. Greenville Congregational Church was organized in 1840. St. 
Michael's Catholic Church was organized in 1838. Delaware Township, St. 
John's Lutheran Church was organized in 1837. Methodist Church was or- 
ganized in 1820. Jackson Township, umberland Presbyterian was organ- 
ized about 1841. Jefferson Township, All Saints' Catholic Church was 
organized about 1838. West Salem Township, Good Hope Lutheran Church 
was organized in 1805. 

REVOLUTIONARY PATRIOTS WHO SETTLED IN MERCER COUNTY 

Godfrey Carmes, in 1801 ; Captain James Duncan, William Simonton, 
David Hayes, Captain Abraham DeForest; Benjamin Kaster, in 1802; Cap- 
tain William Findley, in 1799; Jacob Junkin, in 1806; Benjamin Stokely, 
John Carmichael; Peter Wilson, in 1797; William Gill; Daniel Harper, in 
1797; William Egdert, in 1800; Joshua Cook, James Young, Mr. Dumars, 
Christopher Irwin, Samuel Waldron, John Perry, William Dougherty, Cap- 
tain Cyrus Beckwith, Archibald Titus, Garrett Cronk, William Nickle, Cap- 
tain John Elliott ; Captain Samuel Quinby, in 1808 ; John Morford, William 
McCalimans. 

POTTER COUNTY 

METHODIST CHURCH 

Coudersport, in 1823. The first Methodist circuit riders in this county, 
in 1823, covered the following territory: Coudersport to Canoe Place (now 
Port Allegheny), eighteen miles; thence ten miles to dividing ridge; thence 
fourteen miles to Portage ; thence down Sinnemahoning twenty-four miles ; 
thence three miles to North Creek ; thence two miles to West Creek ; thence 
seven miles to Big Run ; thence twenty-three miles to Kersey ; thence twelve 
miles to Brockway's ; thence twenty-three miles to Bennett's Branch and 
Driftwood Branch; thence sixteen miles to the mouth of Sinnemahoning; 
thence fifteen miles to Youngwoman's Town (North Point) ; returning via 
Potato Creek and Smethport to Coudersport, a distance of two hundred and 
forty-nine miles. 

These circuit riders always travelled on horseback. The horse was usu- 
ally " bobbed," and you could see that he had a most excellent skeleton. These 
itinerants all wore leggings, and carried on the saddle a large pair of saddle- 
bags, which contained a clean shirt, a Bible, and a hymn-book. The sermon 
was on a cylinder in the head of the preacher, and was ready to be grapho- 
phoned at any point or time. 

431 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

The Baptist (regular) and the Seventh Day both held services in the 
county as early as 1S33. 

Coudersport Catholic Church, in the forties. 

Genesee Township Roman Catholic Church in 1S44, by Bishop O'Connor, 
Fathers Smith and Gallagher. 

VENANGO COUNTY 
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 

As early as 1S01 systematic efforts by the Presbyterian synod of Penn- 
s\ Ivania to send ministers into Venango County had occurred. The records 
of the Presbytery of Erie, of 180J. speak of supplies preaching at Franklin. 
Pithole. McGurls, Oil Creek, and Scrubgrass. 

Rev. James Satterfield preached in 1S01. To hear these ministers people 
came five, ten. and twenty miles. 

Later, churches were erected of rough logs and with no arrangements 
for tire in the winter. 

First Presbyterian Church in the county, now Utica, in 1800, by Rev. 
William Wylie. Scrubgrass. 1802-03, by Rev. Robert Johnson. Presbyterian. 
Franklin, in 1801. pioneer sermon. Amity Presbyterian. Irwin Township, in 
1800. by Rev. Robert Lee. Concord Presbyterian. Allegheny Township, in 
i8jo. by Rev. Thomas Anderson. Scrubgrass Presbyterian, Scrubgrass 
Township, in iSoo, by Rev. William Moorehead. Academia. Richland Town- 
ship, in 18J3. by Rev. Robert McGarrough. Cherrytree. Cherrytree Town- 
ship, in 1837, by Rev. G. W. Hampson. Sunville. Plum Township, in 1839. 
by Rev. Thomas Anderson. Rockland. Rockland Township, in i8jj. by Rev. 
Robert McGarrough. Sugar Creek, Jackson Township, in 18 14. Pleasant- 
ville, Oil Creek Township, in 1844. by Rev. Hogg. 

METHODIST 

Peters. Irwin Township, in 1845. Asbury. Allegheny Township, in 1804, 
by Rev. Andrew Hemphill. Big Bend, Scrubgrass Township, in 1835. by 
Rev. J. H. Jackson. Xicklin Chapel, French Creek Township, in 1833. Rey- 
nolds. French Creek Township. 1840 or 1845. Fairview. Cherrytree Town- 
ship, in 1830, by Rev. Reuben Peck. Sunville. Plum Township, in 1844. by 
Rev. John Abbott. Rockland. Rockland Township, in 1830. by Rev. J. C. 
Avers. Luther Chapel. Canal Township, in 1830. Sandy Creek. Sandy Creek 
Township, old church, by Rev. Ira Eddy. 

Early Methodist service in Oakland, in 1800. by Rev. Wiley. Methodist 
Church. Clintonville, in i8j8. Methodist services. Pleasantville. in 1804. by 
Rev. Andrew Hemphill. Centre Methodist Church, Mineral Township, in 
1844. Pleasantville Methodist Church. Irwin Township, about 1840. Salem. 
Cranberry Township. 1845-50, by Rev. Richard Caruthers. 

43^ 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

The Methodist circuit rider was an early visitor in Venango County. 
The pioneer Methodist service in Franklin was in 1804. 

In 1804 the Baltimore conference appointed Thornton Fleming presiding 
elder and Andrew Hemphill preacher of the Monongahela District, which 
included Mercer, Crawford, Erie, Venango, and Butler Counties. This old 
circuit, called the Erie, was in existence as late as 1820. It was four hun- 
dred miles round and had forty-four apointments to fill every four weeks. 

ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCHES 

St. Catharine's, in 1834. St. Patrick's, Franklin, in 1749, by Father 
Bonecamp. 

CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 

Scrubgrass, in 1835, by Rev. S. Murphy. Pine Grove, in 1842, by Rev. 
Hatten. Irwin, in 1843, by R ev - J- Murphy. Church of God, Irwin, in 1839, 
by Rev. Thomas. Pine Grove, in 1842, by Rev. Werts. 

BAPTIST CHURCH 

Cherry Tree Baptist, in 1835, by Rev. Samuel Miles. Canal, Freewill 
Baptist, in 1827, by Rev. J. H. Lamchier. 

EPISCOPAL CHURCH 

St. John's, Franklin, in 1825, by Rev. Charles Smith. 

UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 

Plumer, in 1828, by Rev. Daniel McLain. 

WARREN COUNTY 
METHODIST CHURCH 

Warren, in 1830, by Rev. James Gilmore. Brokenstraw, in 1809. Pine 
Grove, in 1830. Deerfield, in 1826. Kinzua, in 1830. Eldred, in 1840. 
Sugar Grove, in 1840. 

BAPTIST CHURCH 

Farmington, in 1831. Warren, in 1834. 

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 

Warren, in 1822, by Rev. Amos Chase. Sugar Grove, in 182 1, by Rev. 
Amos Chase. Deerfield, in 1828. Pittsfield, in 1845. 

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH 

Sugar Grove, in 1838. Farmington, in 1830. 
28 433 



CHAPTER XXIII 



ODD FELLOWSHIP IN NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 
" WHERE ODD FELLOWS CAME FROM 

" The English Odd Fellows date back, so far as recorded, to Loyal Aris- 
tarchus Lodge, No. i, of 1745, at Southwark, a schism, perhaps, from Ma- 
sonic sources, or possibly in emulation of that craft. At first it was ' pipes 
and ale' and later the ' friendly society' beneficiary features. Daniel De Foe 
made reference to its existence and the poet Montgomery wrote an ' Ode to 
Odd Fellowship.' The society grew under varying ' Odd Fellow' titles until 
the end of the eighteenth century, when it began to split into numerous Odd 
Fellow societies, the parent, or Grand United Order, dropping to second 
place in membership compared with its offspring, the Manchester Unity of 
1812, from which the Independent Order here descended. 



" THE IMMIGRANT BLACKSMITH 

" What George Washington was to the American Republic, Thomas 
Wildey was to American Odd Fellowship, — a humble English blacksmith, 
who had emigrated to America, and who, with four comrades at Baltimore, 
formed the first Odd Fellows' Lodge in the new world which had more than 
a transitory existence. 

" Wildey and John Welch had both been made Odd Fellows in England, 
and conceived the idea of establishing the Order here. To that end they 
published a call for such brethren as might see the notice, and John Duncan, 
John Cheatham, and Menard Rushworth responded on April 13, 1819. They 
were, most of them, members of the British United Order, by the usages of 
which any five Odd Fellows could organize and constitute a legal lodge where 
none existed, and this they did on the 26th of April in that year. 

" Lodges of British Odd Fellowship had appeared at Baltimore in 1802, 
at New York in 1806 and others after the war of 1812, but none of them 
lived long. 

" Washington Lodge, No. 1, that formed by Wildey and his friends, 
received an English charter from a Lodge of the Independent Order, and in 
1821 this was formally confirmed with the additional prerogatives of a Grand 
Lodge. Thomas Wildey was the first Grand Master, under the British 
Independent Order, Manchester Unity allegiance, and Subordinate Lodges 
Washington. No. 1. and Franklin, Xo. 2, were promptly chartered by him. 

434 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" One may imagine the difficulty Wildey and his lieutenants had in 
keeping alive the fires of enthusiasm over the newly transplanted Odd Fel- 
lowship in those early days of difficult intercommunication, and during the 
period 1826-1835, when the entire East was ablaze with the flames of not 
only anti-Masonry but antagonism to all secret societies. Yet within five years 
they formed Grand Lodges in Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts, 
and in 1825 the first Grand Lodge of Odd Fellows in the United States at a 
time when the total membership was only five hundred in nine Subordinate 
Lodges. Wildey, of course, was made Grand Sire of the new Grand Lodge, 
and in 1826, when he visited England, ' he was joyfully received by Odd 
Fellows as the founder of the Order in America.' 

" HEAVY GROWTH IN MEMBERSHIP 

" The jump from five hundred members in 1825 to two hundred thousand 
in 1861, in which year Wildey died, was a testimonial to not only the char- 
acter of the founder of the institution, but a tribute as well to the principles 
inculcated, which, when implanted, steadily grew and spread. But striking 
as was the gain in membership in those forty-two years, the last forty-four 
years offer quite as remarkable an exhibit, with an addition, net, of one million 
to the brotherhood. 

" The history of Odd Fellowship is punctuated with more schisms than 
that of any other secret society in the world, which is saying a good deal. 

" The American Order has not failed to keep up with the procession, and 
has itself constituted a schismatic branch since 1842, at which time it dropped 
its allegiance to the British Manchester Unity, the latter the largest British 
Odd Fellows' Society, which branched off from the parent or Grand British 
Order in 1812. 

" The negro Odd Fellows in the United States, strange as it may seem, 
some one hundred and fifty thousand in number, are a loyal branch of the 
Grand United (parent) British Order, having been instituted here through 
the efforts of Peter Ogden, a New York negro of education, a sailor, who 
had been made an Odd Fellow in Liverpool." — Albert C. Stevens. 

JEFFERSON COUNTY 

The pioneer Lodge of Odd Fellows organized in Jefferson County was 
Brookville Lodge, No. 217, I. O O. F. It was chartered December 21, 1846, 
with the following members, — to wit : Pearl Roundy, David S. Deering, John 
Hastings, James S. McCullough, and William McCandless. The Lodge was 
opened and the officers installed by John L. Cuttle, of Clearfield, Pennsylva- 
nia, February 8, 1847. 

The hall occupied by the Order for that purpose was above what was 
called " The Philadelphia Cheap Store," or in the second story of the building 

435 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

on East Main Street, now (1902) occupied by Norman D. Matson as a 
residence. 

The pioneer officers thus installed were Pearl Roundy, Noble Grand; 
David S. Deering, now of Independence, Iowa, Vice-Grand ; John Hastings, 
Secretary; James S. McCullough, Assistant Secretary; and William Mc- 
Candless, Treasurer. Meetings were held regularly every Saturday night. 

The pioneer applications for membership were Uriah Matson, Dr. James 
Dowling, D. B. Jenks, James C. Matson, Barton T. Hastings, Daniel Smith, 
W. F. Clark, now (1902) living at Maquoketa, Iowa; and John Reichert; 
date, February 8, 1847. 

Public opinion in Brookville, as well as in the churches, was violently 
opposed to this organization being created in our midst. It was " a revival 
of Freemasonry;" it was "immoral," and "in league with the devil." Mar- 
ried women, as a rule, were bitter, and serious trouble arose between some 
pioneer members and their wives. An order founded on so grand a tripod 
as Friendship, Love, and Truth could not be destroyed by this " babbling 
gossip of the air," but rapidly increased in numbers under the light of the 
knowledge that the United States in this year (1846) had nine hundred and 
sixty-two Subordinate Lodges and a membership of ninety thousand seven 
hundred and fifty-three, with a revenue from these Lodges for benevolence 
to widows, orphans, and afflicted brothers of $708,306.40; and the total 
amount paid that year for sick brethren, widows, and orphans was $197,317, 
which proved conclusively that the practical workings of this order were 
anything but from the devil, and that all the predicted woes and calamities 
of the enemies of the order were imaginary and but the darkness of ignorance. 

Brookville Lodge rented a room in the upper story of the American 
Hotel, which Judge Heath was then building, and on Wednesday, June 30, 
1847, the members of the Lodge, accompanied by the charter members of 
Mahoning Lodge, No. 250, and a delegation from Clearfield Lodge, No. 198, 
met in and left the old hall, above Matson's store, at fifteen minutes past one 
o'clock, preceded by the Clarion brass band, and marched up Main Street to 
the Presbyterian church. Addresses were delivered there by Rev. John 
Rugan, a Lutheran minister, and D. B. Jenks, Esq., on the order and its 
objects, after which the procession reformed and marched to their new hall in 
the American building, where the dedication ceremonies were performed, 
when the new hall was thrown open and a reception held for the ladies and 
the public. The following was the programme: 

" ORDER OF EXERCISES, TO BE OBSERVED AT THE PROCESSION AND DEDICATION 
OF THE I. 0. 0. F. HALL, AT BROOKVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA, ON THE 3OTH 
OF JUNE, 1847 OFFICERS OF THE DAY 

" Grand Master, John L. Cuttle ; Master of Ceremonies, David S. Deer- 
ing; Chief Marshal, John Hastings; Assistant Marshals, Peter Clover, H. B. 

436 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Beissel; Chaplain, J. K. Coxson; First Herald, James S. McCullough; 
Second Herald, Evans R. Brady; Third Herald, Michael Frank; Fourth 
Herald, A. M. Hills; Outside Guardian, John Reichart; Inside Guardian, 
Henry Pride. 

" The citizens who are desirous of being present will assemble in the 
Presbyterian church at one o'clock p.m. The members of the Order will 
leave the old Hall, in procession, under the direction of the Marshals, at 
fifteen minutes past one o'clock p.m., and proceed to the church. On the 
arrival of the procession at the church exercises will be conducted as fol- 
lows, — viz. : 

" I. Prayer. 2. Music. 3. Address by Rev. Mr. Rugan. 4. Music. 5. 
Prayer. 6. Address by a Brother of the Order. 7. Music. 8. Benediction. 

" The procession will then re-form in the same order and march to the 
New Hall, where the Ceremonies of Dedication will be performed. In con- 
sequence of the size of the Hall none will be admitted but members of the 
Order." 

By reason of the burning of the American Hotel, together with the 
furniture and paraphernalia of Brookville Lodge, except the Charter and 
Due Book, the Charter was surrendered in 1856. Up to that date one hun- 
dred and seventy-four members had been regularly received. 

And now (1902) the Odd Fellows have a membership of over one 
million in the world, and have paid, for sick and funeral benefits and the care 
of widows and orphans, the magnificent sum of eighty-eight million dollars. 

The second organization of Odd Fellows in Jefferson County was Ma- 
honing Lodge, No. 250, I. O. O. F., of Punxsutawney. This Lodge was 
organized May 31, 1847, and became defunct in 1858. No record can be 
found, and no information can be obtained about the organization, and but 
little about the Lodge. Some of the pioneer members were Obed Nordstrum, 
John B. Wilson, W. E. Bell, P. W. Jenks, Rev. Thomas Wilson, Dr. A. J. 
Johnson, Major Joseph B. Hucheson, and others. 

CRAWFORD COUNTY 

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows organized Cupewago Lodge, 
No. 108, in Meadville, April 21, 1825. 

MERCER COUNTY 

Mercer Lodge, No. 321, I. O. O. F., was organized July 4, 1832. Alham- 
bra Lodge, No. 293, I. O. O. F., in Greenville Borough, was instituted 
January 31, 1848. Sharon Lodge, No. 347, I. O. O. F., was instituted on 
the 19th of February, 1849. 

VENANGO COUNTY 

The pioneer Odd Fellows' Lodge in Franklin, Venango Lodge, No. 255, 
I. O. O. F., was instituted October 26, 1847. 

437 



ft'O* «C]V* ^O'* «^MVd «^d «VP%d C^%d «*£¥» «^£Vd 

«o3 edte eCita e«M ?w eOv» eCite e«M eCiKs 



CHAPTER XXIV 



PIONEER NEWSPAPERS IN NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 
" Reading maketh a full man." 

Previous to 1793 there were no postal or post-office facilities. Letters 
and papers had to be sent with friends, neighbors, or by special carriers. The 
first newspaper started in the western part of the State was the Pittsburg 
Gazette. It was published by John Scull, and issued in 1786. It was distri- 
buted to patrons by special carriers. 

BUTLER COUNTY 

The pioneer newspaper in the county was the Palladium and Republican 
Star, published August 17, 1818. John Galbraith, editor and publisher. 

Butler Repository, March, 1823. In 1842 it was published by Mc- 
Laughlin & Zeigler. Democratic Herald in 1842-50. 

CRAWFORD COUNTY 

The pioneer newspaper of Northwestern Pennsylvania was the Craiv- 
ford Weekly Messenger, published and edited by Thomas Atkinson and W. 
Brendle. The first number was issued January 2, 1805, published every 
Wednesday morning ; terms, two dollars per year. The newspaper was a four 
paged sheet, four columns to a page, and seventeen by twenty inches in size. 
Atkinson continued to publish it until 1833. In 1835 it was discontinued. 

The Crawford Democrat and Northwestern Advertiser was started in 
1835 by E. McFarland. In 1831 the Meadville Courier was started by W. W. 
Perkins. Name changed in September, 1837, t0 Crawford Democrat and 
Meadville Courier; in 1840, to Crawford Democrat to 1848. The Crawford 
Journal was started in 1848. 

CLARION COUNTY' 

The pioneer newspaper was the Republican printed at Strattonville, April 
1, 1839, bv James McCracken ; moved to Clarion in 1840. The Republican 
and Iron County Democrat was started in 1842, by B. J. Reed and Samuel 
Duff, merged into the Clarion Democrat in 1844, William Alexander, pro- 
prietor. 

438 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

ELK COUNTY 

The pioneer newspaper in the county was the St. Mary's Republican. 
The first number was issued January 5, 1850, by C. B. Cotton. This paper 
only lived a short time. Elk County Advocate, Ridgway, in 1850. 

FOREST COUNTY 

Forest Press (pioneer), 1866, Peter O. Conver. Forest Republican, 
1868, Colonel J. W. H. Reesinger; 1879, J- E - Wenk. 

JEFFERSON COUNTY 

In the year 1832 John J. Thompson established, in Brookville, Jefferson 
County, Pennsylvania, and issued the first number of the pioneer paper within 




John Jamieson Ypsilanti Thompson 

the confines of the county. This paper was printed on coarse paper, thirteen 
inches wide and twenty inches long. The terms of subscription were the 
same as printed for the American. In politics it was Democratic. In 1833 
Thomas Reid purchased a half-interest in the establishment. The paper then 

439 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

was published as a neutral or independent, and still called Gazette. Thomp- 
son and Reid not agreeing, Reid retired, and Thompson and James P. Blair 
continued the publication. 

In 1833 Thompson disposed of his interest to Dr. R. K. Scott, and the 
firm became Blair & Scott. Some time after 1833 and before 1835 Thompson 
added Ypsilanti to his name. 

Judge Thompson's grandfather was Robert Thompson. His grandmother 
was Mary Thompson, nee Gordon. In what year they came from Ireland 
(whither they had gone from Scotland), and settled in Franklin County, 
Pennsylvania, is not known. In the year 1790 they migrated to Indiana 
County, and settled on a farm near Altman's Run. Robert Thompson died on 
this farm in 1802, aged seventy years. Mary, his wife, died in 1846, aged 
ninety-five years. These were Judge Thompson's grandparents. 

Robert Thompson and Mary Gordon Thompson had one daughter, named 
Ruth, who married James Lattimer ; they also had four sons, Alexander, 
Moses, Adam, and William. 

William Thompson married Miss Agnes Jamieson, daughter of Rev. John 
Jamieson, and from this union there were three sons and two daughters, — to 
wit : Hon. John Jamieson Ypsilanti Thompson, Rev. Robert Thompson, Wil- 
liam Gordon Thompson, Agnes Thompson, otherwise called Nancy, and 
Mary Thompson, otherwise called Polly. William Thompson and wife settled 
on a farm near Lewisville, Indiana County, Pennsylvania. This farm was 
deeded by Rev. John Jamieson and Agnes, his wife, to William Thompson 
and Agnes Jamieson Thompson, his wife, the deed being dated March 26, 
1 81 7, and the consideration being twenty dollars. The farm contained two 
hundred acres, and was afterwards known as the " John Gallagher farm." 

On this farm the Hon. J. J. Y. Thompson was born, in 1805. He received 
his entire education in a little cabin school-house on an adjoining farm owned 
by Adam Elliott. For seven years he went to Master Adam Elliott, who 
was the teacher. Master Elliott's school was a subscription one, and was 
conducted under the law of 1809. He was a great mathematician and a fine 
penman, and taught young Thompson practical surveying. Of the early 
boyhood days of the subject of this sketch we have little knowledge, save that 
he was an acknowledged leader among his schoolmates, beloved by his asso- 
ciates and esteemed by his master. He excelled in civil engineering and sur- 
veying, and when such work was to be done was invariably selected as assist- 
ant. His father dying in 181 7, of smallpox, he was thrown upon his own 
resources, and at an early age left the home roof and became a clerk in the 
store of Nathaniel Nesbitt, Blairsville, Pennsylvania. In a short time after 
this he embarked in business for himself, but his venture not proving suc- 
cessful, he abandoned it, and in 1831 removed to the wilderness of Jefferson 
County. 

July 25, 1833, John J. Y. Thompson was married to Miss Agnes Susan 

440 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Kennedy, and commenced married life in Brookville. Miss Agnes Susan 
Kennedy was a daughter of Rev. William Kennedy and Mary Kennedy, nee 
AlcClure, and was born near Lewistown, in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, in 
the year 1813. Her father was the pioneer to locate as a minister in Jefferson 
County, and was a Presbyterian divine. Mrs. Thompson was a remarkable 
woman, a model wife and mother, and was beloved by everybody. 

In the fall of 1834 Mr. Thompson moved to Dowlingville, Jefferson 
County, where he remained until the summer of 1837, when he returned to 
Brookville, and, in the ensuing November, built a saw-mill on Sandy Lick, at 
the present site of Bell's Mills. Here he remained until the summer of 1840, 
when he sold his mill to Alpheus Shaw and returned to Brookville. He 
remained in Brookville three months, and then removed to Heathville, 
Jefferson County, returning to Brookville in 1841. He then moved to the 
farm in Union Township now owned by Arthur Morrison, where he lived 
one year. 

In 1843 Mr. Thompson purchased a tract of land from Daniel Stannard, 
of Indiana, Pennsylvania, known as Warrant No. 681, where he erected a 
hotel and engaged in the hotel business and in merchandising. He secured 
a post-office for the place, which he had named Corsica, and was appointed 
postmaster in 1844. In 1847 Mr. Thompson surveyed and laid out the town 
of Corsica. He served as justice of the peace, was elected a number of times 
county surveyor, and was prothonotary, register, etc., from 1845 to 1848. 
He continued, however, to do business and to reside at Corsica until 1852, 
when he again removed to Brookville, having purchased the " Arcade" and 
" American" buildings, at the price of twenty thousand dollars. It was then 
the largest and finest business block in the place. He occupied the American, 
and continued in the hotel business until the two buildings, with all their con- 
tents, were destroyed by fire, May 24, 1856. This fire left Mr. Thompson 
without money and financially embarrassed ; but nothing daunted, the third 
day after the fire he and his boys commenced to clear away the debris and 
began preparation for rebuilding. Owing to his well-known business in- 
tegrity and great energy, he surmounted every obstacle and completed and 
occupied what is now known as the American Hotel, owned and managed 
by Buffington and Brady. 

In 1861 Mr. Thompson was elected associate judge. In 1865 he sold 
the " American" and removed to Portsmouth, Ohio,, and was engaged in the 
lumber business until he was suddenly removed by death, August 19, 1865. in 
the sixtieth year of his age. 

Judge Thompson was a man of fine presence, pleasing address, and 
popular manners. He was identified with all the early history of Jefferson 
County, aiding in every public enterprise of his day. For many years he sur- 
veyed every purchased piece or parcel of land in the county. His name and 
face became familiar in every cabin, and the hand of friendship was uni- 

441 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

versally extended to him alike by young and old. Being of a gonial and 
social disposition himself, his presence inspired all with whom he came in 
contact, and he influenced them in a measure with his own sunny disposition. 
Indeed, in this wilderness he seemed to be '* one of the spirits chosen by 
heaven to turn the sunny side of things to human eyes." In politics he was a 
Democrat until 1800, when he became a Republican. He lived and died a 
United Presbyterian. 

Judge Thompson was a man of rare intelligence, charitable, kind, sym- 
pathetic, outspoken, benevolent, and bold, with a Scotch temper that would 
at times break out, when due provocation was given, with " I'll be dod 
danged to Harry." and " I'll be dod danged to dangnation." But with this 
explosion over, everything with him was just as tender and serene as if no 
thunder-clap had jarred the atmosphere. 

In June. 1838. Thomas Hastings and son started and published in Brook- 
ville a new paper called the Backwoodsman. In 1841, Colonel William Jack 
bought this paper and had it published by George F. Humes. This was not a 
success, and Humes, in a valedictory to his patrons, told them to go to h — 11 
and he would go to Texas. In 1843 the paper was owned and published by 
David I'arckn and Barton I'. Hastings In short time Barclaj retired ami 
Hastings continued the publication. Those papers were all printed on the 
old Ramage or Franklin press, and every publisher made his own " roller" 
out of glue and molasses, in the proportion of a pound of glue to a pint of 
molasses. In Brookville the " youngest devil" in the office carried to the 
residence of each subscriber his or her paper. The boy who delivered these 
papers was called the " carrier." Each Xew Year's day this carrier would 
have an address in poetry, written by some local bard, recounting the events 
of the year just closed. This Xew Year's address he offered for sale to his 
patrons. 

LAWREXCE COUNTY 

The first newspaper in Xew Castle was founded in 18 jo by David Craw- 
ford. It lived two years. The Intelligencer was issued August 18, 1830. 
The Sentinel was issued in 1837: it was discontinued in 1838. The town had 
no newspaper from this time until August 14, 1830. when the Mercer and 
Beaver Democrat was issued. The first issue of the Laurence Journal was 
May 23, 1840. A Democratic paper was published in Xew Castle on July 13. 
1844. by George F. Humes. 

m'kean county 

The pioneer paper Forester was issued in the spring of 1832 by Hiram 
Paine. The McKcan County Journal was issued in 1834, by Richard Chad- 
wick; changed to Beacon and Journal, 1837. The Settler and Pennon was 
issued in September. 1837, by William S. Oviatt. The McKcan County Yeo- 
man and Elk County Advertiser was issued December, 1840. 

44- 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

MERCER COUNTY 

// 'extern Press, in 1811, by Jacob Herrington. Express, in 1848, by J. W. 
Mason. 

POTTER COUNTY 

Potter County Journal, in 1848, by William McDougall. 

TIOGA COUNTY 

The Tioga Pioneer, in December, 1825, by Rankin, Lewis & Co. This 
was the first newspaper in the county, and changed to the Phoenix, August, 
1827, by Benjamin B. Smith. The Tioga Phoenix and Potter County Gazette, 
in 1838, by Hartman, Howe & Ramsey. Tioga County Herald, in December, 

1846, by George Hildreth, merged into the Wellsborough Advertiser in 1849. 

VENANGO COUNTY 

The pioneer newspaper in Franklin, Venango County, was the Herald, 
in September, 1820, by John Evans. The Venango Democrat, in March, 1824, 
finally merged into the Spectator in June, 1849. ^ ne Democratic Arch, July 
11, 1842. The Franklin Intelligencer, in 1834. The Franklin Gazette, in 
1843. The Advocate and Journal, in 1847, was tne pioneer temperance paper, 
by E. S. Durban. 

WARREN COUNTY 

The pioneer paper was the Conezvango Emigrant, issued July 24, 1824, 
suspended in the spring of 1826. Voice of the People, in 1829 ; discontinued 
in 1835. Warren Bulletin, in May, 1836. Democratic Advocate, in 1840; 
in 1847, suspended and bought by S. J. Goodrich; Warren Standard, in May, 

1847, by S. J. Goodrich; destroyed by fire March, 1849. Ledger, in 1849, by 
S. J. Goodrich. Allegheny Mail, in July, 1848, by J. Warren Fletcher. 








^immsi^ms^ms^^^^mi^jm^smismmsmm 



CHAPTER XXV 



BUTLER COUNTY — COUNTY ERECTED — LOCATION OF COUNTY SEAT — PIONEER 
ROADS. SETTLERS. CHURCHES. SCHOOLS. COURTS. OFFICERS. TOWNS. AND 
BOROUGHS — INDIAN TRAILS TOWNSHIPS MARKETING MAILS 

Butler County was erected March 12, 1S00. It was named for Gen- 
eral Richard Butler. It was formed out of Allegheny, and then bounded : 
" Beginning- at the mouth of Buffalo Creek on the Allegheny River; thence 
by a straight line running due west, until it strikes the line on Beaver County ; 
thence north by the line of said county to the northeast corner of said county ; 
thence bv a line north thirty-five degrees east fourteen miles : thence by a line 
running - due east, continuing said course to where a line running due north 
from the mouth of Buffalo Creek., the place of beginning." 




Butler, 1843 

Adiel McLure. James Amberson. and Win. Elliott, were appointed to 
purchase or receive a gTant of land and erect a court-house and prison 
thereon. The place of the county seat was not to be a greater distance than 
four miles from the centre of the county. By an act. March 8, 1803. the 
trustees were directed. " to cause to be surveyed three hundred acres of land, 
which Robert Graham. John and Samuel Cunningham, had granted to the 
governor, for the use of the county, on the north side of the Conequenessing, 

444 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

near Cunningham's mill, to lay out a lot, etc., for the public buildings, and 
the residue in town lots, to be sold by auction." 

Butler County is bounded on the north by Venango ; on the east by 
Armstrong ; on the south by Allegheny ; and on the west by Beaver and 
Mercer. Length, thirty-three miles ; breadth, twenty-three miles ; area, seven 
hundred and eighty-five square miles ; and contains five hundred and two 
thousand four hundred acres of land. Population in 1810, 1346; in 1820, 
10,193; in 1830, 14,681; in 1840, 22,378. 

Butler Borough is situated on the Conequenessing Creek, in the bend 
thereof, on an eminence that commands an extensive and picturesque view of 
the surrounding country, " embracing rolling land, variegated with copse of 
woodland, country seats, verdant meadows, and the silvery waters of the 
creek meandering among them." 

The town was laid out in lots in 1803, and a public sale held in August of 
that year. Butler contains the usual county buildings, — a brick court-house, 
a prison, an academy, and several well-built churches, Presbyterian, Lutheran, 
Methodist, Episcopal, etc. The borough was incorporated February 26, 181 7. 
Population in 1830, 580; in 1840, 861. On the creek there are several mills, 
and a salt-works. 

Harmony is on the south bank of Conequenessing Creek, fourteen miles 
southwest of Butler ; and Zelienople, on the same creek, is about one mile 
southwest of Harmony, and was laid out about forty years ago, by Dr. Miller. 
It contains between forty-five and fifty-five houses, three hundred and twenty- 
five inhabitants, principally German, and mostly intelligent and enterprising. 
The soil around the village is fertile. Besides these, there are many other 
villages, — Centreville, Harrisville, Woodville, Murrinsville, Portersville, Pros- 
pect, Evansville, Summersville, North Washington. 

No river passes through the county, but the Allegheny River touches the 
northeast and southwest corners. The county is well watered by a number of 
creeks, giving an abundance of water-power to grist-mills, saw-mills, oil-mills, 
woollen-factories, etc. Springs of pure water are abundant. 

Several graded roads called turnpikes, though not covered with broken 
stones, and hence called " clay pikes," cross the county in different directions. 

Education receives considerable attention. There is an academy at the 
seat of justice, established in 181 1, and endowed by the Legislature with 
two thousand dollars and a tract of land. There are twenty school districts in 
the county, nineteen of which reported that in these were one hundred and 
fifty-two schools in operation, in which three thousand nine hundred and one 
males, and two thousand eight hundred and forty-two females were taught 
five months in the year 1845. A school tax of $5593.86 was assessed, and 
the State appropriation was $3257.21. The whole cost of instruction was 
$6484. 55. 

The various religious persuasions are Presbyterians, Seceders, German 

447 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Reformed, Lutherans, Universalists, Unionists, Covenanters ; but the Catho- 
lics are the most numerous. 

One of Captain Samuel Brady's adventures occurred on the waters of 
Slippery Rock Creek, probably somewhere in this county : 

" The injuries inflicted on the Indians by the troops under General Broad- 
head quieted the country for some time. He kept spies out, however, for the 
purpose of watching their motions, and guarding against sudden attacks on 
the settlements. One of these parties, under the command of Captain Brady, 
had the French Creek country assigned as their field of duty. The captain 
had reached the waters of Slippery Rock, a branch of Beaver, without seeing 
signs of Indians. Here, however, he came on an Indian trail in the evening, 
which he followed till dark without overtaking the Indians. The next morn- 
ing he renewed the pursuit, and overtook them while they were engaged at 
their morning meal. Unfortunately for him, another party of Indians were 
in his rear. They had fallen upon his trail, and pursued him, doubtless, with 
as much ardor as his pursuit had been characterized by ; and at the moment he 
fired upon the Indians in his front, he was, in turn, fired upon by those in his 
rear. He was now between two fires, and vastly outnumbered. Two of his 
men fell ; his tomahawk was shot from his side, and the battle-yell was given 
by the party in his rear, and loudly returned and repeated by those in his 
front. There was no time for hesitation ; no safety in delay ; no chance of 
successful defence in their present position. The brave captain and his 
rangers had to flee before their enemies, who pressed on their flying foot- 
steps with no lagging speed. Brady ran toward the creek. He was known by 
many, if not by all of them ; and many and deep were the scores to be settled 
between him and them. They knew the country well ; he did not ; and from 
his running toward the creek they were certain of taking him prisoner. The 
creek was, for a long distance above and below the point he was approach- 
ing, washed in its channel to a great depth. In the certain expectation of 
catching him there, the private soldiers of his party were disregarded ; and 
throwing down their guns, and drawing their tomahawks, all pressed forward 
to seize their victim. 

" Quick of eye, fearless of heart, and determined never to be a captive 
to the Indians, Brady comprehended their object and his only chance of 
escape, the moment he saw the creek; and by one mighty effort of courage 
and activity, defeated the one and effected the other. He sprang across the 
abyss of waters, and stood, rifle in hand, on the opposite bank, in safety. As 
quick as lightning (says my informant) his rifle was primed; for it was his 
invariable practice in loading to prime first. The next minute the powder- 
horn was at the gun's muzzle ; when, as he was in this act, a large Indian, 
who had been foremost in pursuit, came to the opposite bank, and with the 
manliness of a generous foe, who scorns to undervalue the qualities of an 

44S 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

enemy, said, in a loud voice, and tolerable English, ' Blady make good jump!' 
It may, indeed, be doubted whether the compliment was uttered in derision; 
for the moment he had said so he took to his heels, and, as if fearful of the 
return it might merit, ran as crooked as a worm-fence — sometimes leaping 
high, at others suddenly squatting down, he appeared no way certain that 
Brady would not answer from the lips of his rifle. But the rifle was not yet 
loaded. The captain was at the place afterwards, and ascertained that his 
leap was about 23 feet, and that the water was 20 feet deep. Brady's next 
effort was to gather up his men. They had a place designated at which to 
meet, in case they should happen to be separated ; and thither he went, and 
found the other three there. They immediately commenced their homeward 
march, and returned to Pittsburg about half defeated. Three Indians had been 
seen to fall from the fire the}' gave them at breakfast." 

When Butler County was first organized, Mr. William Ayres was ap- 
pointed prothonotary, and had for his clerk and law student, Mr. H. M. 
Breckenridge, since a distinguished Member of Congress from Allegheny 
County. The following graphic sketch is from his " Recollections of the 
West" : 

" On my arrival at Butler there were a few log houses just raised, but 
not sufficiently completed to be occupied. It was not long before there were 
two taverns, a store, and a blacksmith's shop ; it was then a town. The 
country around was a perfect wilderness, with the exception of a few scattered 
settlements. The business of the office requiring but little of my time, and 
having an unbounded liberty, with a most exquisite relish for its enjoyment, 
no small portion of it was passed in wild and uncertain rambles through the 
romantic hills and valleys of Butler. The mornings and evenings were 
devoted to study, but generally the day was sacred to liberty. 

" The first court held in Butler drew the whole population to the town, 
some on account of business, some to make business, but the greater part 
from idle curiosity. They were at that time chiefly Irish, who had- all the 
characteristics of the nation. A log cabin just raised and covered, but with- 
out window-sash or doors, or daubing, was prepared for the hall of justice. 
A carpenter's bench, with three chairs upon it, was the judgment-seat. The 
bar of Pittsburg attended, and the presiding judge, a stiff, formal, and pedan- 
tic old bachelor, took his seat, supported by two associate judges, who were 
common farmers, one of whom was blind of an eye. The hall was barely 
sufficient to contain the bench, bar, jurors, and constables. But few of the 
spectators could be accommodated on the lower floor, the only one yet laid ; 
many, therefore, clambered up the walls,- and placing their hands and feet 
in the open interstices between the logs, hung there, suspended like enormous 
Madagascar bats. Some had taken possession of the joists, and big John 
Mcjunkin (who until now had ruled at all public gatherings) had placed a 
29 449 



HIST0R1' OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

foot on one joist, and a foot on another, directly over the heads of their 
honors, Standing like the Colossus of Rhodes. 'The judge's sense of propriety 
was shocked at this exhibition. The sheriff, John McCandless. was called, 
and ordered to clear the walls and joists. 1 le wenl to work with his assistants. 
and soon pulled down by the legs those who were in no very great haste to 
obey. Mejunkin was the last, and began to growl as he prepared to descend. 
' What do you say, sir?' said the judge. ' 1 say, 1 pay my taxes, and his as 
good a reete here as inv mon.' ' Sheriff, sheriff,' said the judge, ' bring him 
before the court.' Mcjunkin's ire was now up: as he reached the floor, he 
began to strike his breast, exclaiming. ' My name is John Mejunkin, d'ye 
set? — here's the brist that niver Hunched, if so be it was in a goode caase. I'll 
stan inv mon a hitch in Butler County, if so be he'll clear me o' the la'.' 
' Bring him before the court,' said the judge, lie was accordingly pinioned, 
and. if not gagged, at least forced to be silent, while his case was under con- 
sideration. Some of the lawyers volunteered as atnici am<e, some ventured 
a word of apology for Mejunkin. The judge pronounced sentence of im- 
prisonment for two hours in the jail of the county, and ordered the sheriff 
to take him into custody. "The sheriff, with much simplicity, observed, ' May 
it please the coorte, there is no jail at all at all to put him in.' Here the 
judge took a learned distinction, upon which he expatiated at some length. 
lor the benefit of the bar. He said there were two kinds of custody: first, 
safe custody: secondly, close custody. The first is, where the body must be 
forthcoming to answer a demand, or an accusation, and in this case the body 
may be delivered for the time being out of the hands of the law, on bail or 
recognizance : but where the imprisonment forms a part of the satisfaction 
or punishment, there can be no bail or mainprize. This is the reason of the 
common law. in relation to escapes under capias ad satisfaciendum-) and also 
why a second ca. sa. cannot issue after the defendant has been once arrested 
and then discharged by the plaintiff. In like manner a man cannot be twice 
imprisoned for the same offence, even if he be released before the expiration 
of the term of imprisonment. This is clearly a case of close custody — arcta 
custodia, and the prisoner must be confined, body and limb, without bail or 
mainprize, in some place of close incarceration,' Here he was interrupted by 
the sheriff, who seemed to have hit upon a lucky thought. ' May it please the 
coorte. I'm just thinken that may be 1 can take him till Bowen's pig-pen — 
the pigs are kilt for the coorte, an it's empty?' ' You have heard the opinion 
of the court.' said the judge. ' proceed, sir; do your duty.' 

" The sheriff accordingly retired with his prisoner, and drew after him 
three fourths of the spectators and suitors, while the judge, thus relieved, 
proceeded to organize the court. But this was not the termination of the 
affair. Peace and order had hardly been restored, when the sheriff came 
rushing to the house, with a crowd at his heels, crying out. ' Mr. Jidge. Mr. 
Jidge: may it please the coorte.' ' What is the matter, sheriff?" ' Mr. Jidge. 

450 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Mr. Jidge, — John Mcjunkin's got aff, d'ye mind.' ' What! escaped, sheriff? 
Summon the posse comitatus!' ' The pusse, the pusse — why now I'll jist tell 
ye how il happen'd. He was goin' on quee-etly enough, till he got to the 
hazzle patch, an' all at once he pitched aff intil the bushes, an' I after him, 
but a lumb of a tree kitched my fut, and 1 pitched three rad off, but I fell 
forit, and that's good luck, ye mintc.' The judge could not retain his gravity; 
the bar raised a laugh, and there the matter ended, after which the business 
proceeded quietly enough." 

The pioneer court was held in 1803 by Judge Jesse Moore; Associate 
Judges, Samuel Findley and John Parker; John McCandless, sheriff. Moore 
wore knee breeches, powdered wig, etc. 

The pioneer school-house was near Whitestown, Nicholas Willison, 
master. It was a German school. Of course, the school-houses were logs 
and in every particular were conducted like the pioneer schools in other 
counties. 

Butler academy was built in 1811. 

The pioneer doctor was Dr. George Miller, about 1816. Butler County 
was well represented in the war of 1812. Colonel John Purviance raised a 
regiment of twelve companies and marched to the front. 

Butler City was laid out in 1803, and incorporated as a borough Feb- 
ruary 26, 1817. General Lafayette passed through the borough on his way 
from Pittsburg to Erie, June 1, 1825. 

Conequenessing Lodge, No. 278, I. O. O. F., was instituted December 
11, 1847. 

The pioneer grist-mill was a small log one erected in 1805 by Alexander 
Bryson. 

Saxonburg was incorporated August 11, 1846. The pioneer election was 
held September 5, 1846. 

Prospect Borough was laid out in 1825 by Andrew McGowen, and was 
incorporated as a borough in 1846. 

Portersville Borough was laid out in 1828 by Robert Stewart, and in 
1845 was incorporated as a borough. 

Centreville was laid out by William Hill in 1820, and was incorporated 
as a borough in 1841. 

Pfarrisville was laid out in 1825, and was incorporated as a borough 
in 1847. 

Thomas Robinson, Esq., of Butler City, kindly loaned me a history of 
Butler County, from which I have gleaned most of these data. 

Although the streams afforded the principal means of communication 
for the Indians (and for the few whites who ventured into the wilderness 
in the last century), there were numerous trails crossing the country. The 
great " Kittanning path," which led westward from Philadelphia to the 
Indian town of Kittanning on the Allegheny, was continued through what 

45 1 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

is now Cutler County, passed the site of the seat of justice, and thence 
probably led to Beaver Creek or the Ohio, or merged with other trails which 
extended to those streams. There is traditionary evidence that an Indian 
path, well denned when the county was settled, extended from the site of 
Butler in an almost straight line to Pittsburg. In Buffalo Township a trail 
has been identified which ran in a north and south direction. It probably 
extended northward a considerable distance, and again approached the 
Allegheny River near the northeastern angle of the county, cutting off the 
big eastern bend of the river. 

There were other trails, however, compared with which those we have 
alluded to were mere by-paths. 

The lands which now form the western part of Butler County were 
traversed by two Indian trails, of which very distinct traces remained when 
the first settlers came into the county in 1796, and which, indeed, can be 
identified in some localities at the present day. The more important of these 
was the trail from the forks of the Ohio (the site of Pittsburg) to Venango, 
an old Indian town at the mouth of French Creek, on the Allegheny River, 
where is now the town of Franklin. The old Pittsburg and Franklin road, 
as originally laid out. closely followed the ancient path of the red men. 
Entering the present limits of the county on the south line of Cranberry 
Township, the trail extended almost directly northward. 

It can still be detected on the lands of Christian Goehring and Israel 
Cookson, in Cranberry, and it is probable that, after passing northward into 
what is now Jackson Township, it bore slightly eastward, following" a small 
run to Breakneck Creek, which it must have crossed very near Evansburg. 
From this point it extended northward through Forward and Conequenessing, 
Franklin. Brady, and Slippery Rock, and so onward to Venango. It is 
highly probable that it crossed the lands upon which the village of Prospect 
has been built, and it was doubtless at that locality that the trail from 
Logstown intersected it. This latter trail is supposed to have traversed the 
sites of Zelienople and Harmony. 

Another Indian trail crossed the lands now embraced in Cranberry, from 
the northwest to the southeast, running in a line approximately parallel to 
Brush Creek. This connected " the forks," or the site of Pittsburg, with 
the Indian village of Kosh-kosh-kung. David Garvin, a settler of 1796, 
is authority for the statement that for many years this ancient pathway could 
be distinguished upon the farm now owned by J. Dambach, 

In the year 1753. more than two score years before there were any 
white men resident in Butler County, no less a personage than George 
Washington travelled on foot through the wilderness along the trails between 
" the forks" and Venango, and between Logstown, on the Ohio, and the site 
of Prospect. 

Robert Morris, the Revolutionary patriot, and Washington's Secretary of 

45- 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

the Treasury, became a large owner of Butler Count)- lands, and many of the 
land-owners of to-day hold title through this celebrated but unfortunate 
personage. 

Morris located three hundred and eleven warrants in that part of Cun- 
ningham's district of depreciated lands, lying within Butler County, and 
was the owner of from seventy to ninety thousand acres of land, including 
the site of Butler borough. 

Litigation concerning title was more common within the limits of this 
immense purchase than elsewhere in Butler County. 

Robert Morris's effects were sold in 1807 at marshal's sale, in Philadel- 
phia, and the warrants for the Butler County lands came into the hands of 
Stephen Lowrey, of Maryland, and other speculators. Lowrey became the 
owner of one hundred and seven tracts. Upon many of these tracts, and upon 
those of other speculators, settlers were located, who had made improve- 
ments, but who held no warrants for the lands. Many of them were sum- 
marily dispossessed of their squatter homes, and others were compelled to 
make terms with the speculators for occupancy. As a rule, the land jobbers 
were sustained by the law. The feeling against them ran very high, and, 
considering the character of the frontiersmen with whom they had to deal, 
it is surprising that war did not result from the controversy other than that 
which was carried on in the courts. As it was, much ill-feeling was en- 
gendered, and on one occasion, at least, bloodshed ensued. 

In the " new purchase," as the territory in Northwestern Pennsylvania 
released from Indian claim in 1784 was called, the price set on lands from 
the 1st of March, 1785, to the 1st of March, 1789, was £30 ($80) per hundred 
acres; from the 1st of March, 1789, to the 3d of April, 1792, £20 ($53-33/^)- 

Lands in the " new purchase" lying north and west of the Ohio and 
Allegheny Rivers and Conewango Creek, from the 3d of April, 1792, to the 
28th of March, 1813, were £7 10s. ($20) per 100 acres. Undrawn donation 
lands from the 1st of October, 1813, until the 25th of February, 1819, were 
one dollar and fifty cents per acre, and upon the latter date were reduced to 
fifty cents per acre. 

The first white man who is positively known to have built a habitation 
within the present limits of Butler County was James Glover. 

James Glover was of Holland Dutch descent ; was born in Essex County, 
New Jersey, where he lived until the breaking out of the Revolutionary War. 
At that time, being of suitable age, and patriotically disposed, he enlisted in 
the colonial army. He served his first term of duty in the New Jersey Line, 
and, on its expiration, enlisted in the Pennsylvania Line, the expiration of his 
former term of service finding him in this State or colony. He served until 
the close of the war ; was at the battle of Princeton, at Germantown, with 
Washington crossing the Delaware, and was one of the soldiers who passed 
the memorable and terrible winter at Valley Forge. He was a very skilful 

453 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

blacksmith, and was engaged much of the time as an armorer. His pure 
patriotism was attested by the fact that he was among those who steadfastly 
refused to draw pay from the government for services rendered. After the 
close of the war he went with his wife to Pittsburg, and there followed his 
trade. His shop was upon Diamond Alley, between Market and Wood Streets. 
After a few years he purchased a farm on the north side of the Allegheny 
River, and took up his residence upon it. This farm is now in the heart of 
Allegheny City, and some of the finest buildings of the busy town stand upon 
the ground where Glover followed agricultural pursuits. He lived to see the 
city built up, but realized very little from it pecuniarily. Shortly after the 
close of the war of 1812 he leased the farm in perpetuity for seventy-five 
dollars per year, and that amount is now received annually by some of his 
heirs, one city lot paying the rental. This lease of Glover's, and one or two 
others, operated to bring about prohibitory legislation in the State of Penn- 
sylvania, so that leasing in perpetuity is now an impossibility. Mr. Glover 
died on the place where he settled, in Adams Township, in September, 1844, 
aged ninety-one years. His family consisted of two daughters, — Mary and 
Nancy. Mary married the Rev. Daniel McLean, for many years a resident 
of Crawford County, and Nancy married Barnet Gilleland, in 1802, who,- with 
his father, settled in Butler County, in the locality now known as Buhl's Mill, 
in 1796. 

The pioneers of the county were nearly all Irish, Scotch, or Scotch- 
Irish, and mostly from " beyond the mountains." 

The early German pioneers came into the county through the influence 
of a few individuals. Detmar Basse came from Germany in 1802, settled in 
Jackson Township, and in 1803 founded Zelienople, which has ever been 
practically a German village. George Rapp founded Harmony in 1805, 
bringing into the county a colony of Germans who constituted the Harmonist 
or Economite Society. When that society removed, in 181 5, the community 
still remained German, Abraham Zeigler, who settled there in 1814 and 
bought the lands, bringing in a large number of settlers of his nationality 
from Western Pennsylvania. 

The road from Pittsburg to Mercer was laid out as a State road in 
1805-06. 

The pioneer bridge built in the county was across the Conequenessing, 
south of Butler, in 1805. 

The court-house of 1807 was a small stone building, and stood upon 
the ground occupied by the present court-house. 

In 1803 Butler County was divided into six election districts. 

In 1804 the county was made into fourteen townships. 

Very primitive methods of marketing necessarily prevailed in pioneer 
times. Hogs were frequently carried to market on horseback— there was no 
other way. The legs of two hogs were tied together by a hickory withe and 

454 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

the load balanced thus upon the pack-saddle, a hog on each side of the horse. 
Ploughs were made after the most ancient pattern, mostly of wood. John 
Burtner, after his settlement, used to make them for the whole neighborhood. 
They were very rude affairs, and so light as to require the greatest patience 
and dexterity from the operator. Thomas Lardin had one of the first metal 
ploughs. It was called the " patent plough," and when it had been tested 
and found to work well, other settlers soon purchased ploughs like it. Har- 
rows were made entirely of wood, including the teeth. Horse-collars were 
made of husks or oatstraw, and sewed together with a tow string. Traces 
were made of hickorv withes. 




•> t*y^d »V*}* *v*)d t»VQ* iifji i»-r|d «V*}d ftvn* 
?C«K« ?U\«i ^w>* ?CTk» fCM ?C*X* ^CJv?> ^UK» ?CM 



CHAPTER XXVI 



CRAWFORD COUNTY — FORMATION OF COUNTY — LOCATION OF COUNTY SEAT — 

TRAILS — ROADS — SETTLERS — LAKES — THE MEADS TURNPIKE — HOLLAND 

COMPANY — CHURCHES — CANALS — BOATING — ANIMALS — OIL — 
ELKS — PIGEONS — SALT WELL — WEEKLY MAIL — MURDER — LAWYERS 
— VILLAGES — SOLDIERS OF lSl2 — BOROUGHS — STAGE ROUTE 

" Crawford County was taken from Allegheny County by the act of 
March i-\ 1800. It received its name in honor of Colonel William Craw- 
ford, one of the heroes of the Western frontier, who was burned by the 
Indians at Sandusky. Length, forty-one miles: breadth, twenty-four miles: 
area, nine hundred and seventy-four square miles. Population in tSoo. J540 : 
in 1810. 0178: in 18-W 9397; in 1830. 10.030: in 1840. 31,724. 

The land generallj is undulating', of good quality; better adapted, how- 
ever, to the raising of stock than of grain, but there is nevertheless an ample 
proportion suitable for the latter. French Creek, formerly known as Venango 
River, enters from Erie County, and. meandering centrally through the 
county, passes out through a corner of Mercer into Venango County, empty- 
ing into the Allegheny River at Franklin. It is a beautiful stream, navigable 
for large boats and rafts during high-water, and affords an abundant supply, 
at all seasons, for the various mills along its banks. Several other small 
streams water the county, as Cussewago. Big and Little Sugar Creeks, Oil 
Creek. Woodcock Creek. Muddy Creek, and Conneauttee Creek. 

According to the pronunciation of the venerable Cornplanter, the first 
of these names should be spelt Kos-se-wau-ga. Tradition states that the 
Indians, on coming to the creek for the first time, discovered a large black- 
snake, with a white ring round his neck, among the limbs of a tree. The 
snake exhibited a wonderful protuberance, as if it had swallowed a rabbit. 
They hence called the creek Kossewauga, which means big-belly. 

' ' Conneaut, or Connect, means something about snow, or the snow 
-'. ce. It was noticed that the snow remained some time on the ice of the 
lake after it had disappeared in the vicinity. Con-ne-aut-tee is a diminutive, 
formed by the American, from the name of the larger lake." — Rev. Mr. 
Alden. 

" There are three handsome lakes in the county. The Conneaut is a 
beautiful sheet of water, about four miles by two. abounding with fine fish. 
The other two are of smaller size, but equally picturesque. Agriculture is 

450 




n 



33 



n 



WAR K E TT 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

the main object of pursuit. The manufactures of the county are chiefly for 
the consumption of its own citizens. Iron ore is found in many localities. 
The French Creek feeder, which supplies the canal from Pittsburg to Erie, 
and is of the same size, runs from Bemis's dam, three miles above Meadville, 
down French Creek eleven miles, and then up the valley of Conneaut outlet, 
to the summit level near that lake. Slackwater navigation also extends down 
French Creek to the Allegheny." — Day's Collections. 

Previous to the white man's advent here this wilderness had public high- 
ways, but they were for the wild deer and savage Indians. These thorough- 
fares were called " deer paths" and " Indian trails." These paths were 
usually well beaten, and crossed each other as civilized roads now do. The 
first trail discovered and traversed by the white man was the Indian Chink- 
lacamoose path, which extended from what is now Clearfield town to what 
is now Kittanning. This Indian trail passed through what is now Punxsu- 
tawney, and over this path and through this Indian town Allegheny Indians 
carried their white prisoners from the eastern part of the State to what was 
then called Kittany, on the Allegheny River. From a most careful and thor- 
ough search to ascertain when the first path or trail of the white man was 
made through this wilderness, I find it to be in the year 1787. In this year 
of grace two hardy and courageous men, David and John Meade, were living 
in what is now Sunbury, Pennsylvania, where John was keeping an inn or 
tavern. These two brothers having read General George Washington's re- 
port to Governor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, of the rich lands and valleys that 
were unoccupied in what is now called Venango and Crawford Counties, 
Pennsylvania, determined to explore that region for themselves. To reach 
this uninhabited section they were compelled to open a path from east to 
west, through what is now Clearfield, Jefferson, Clarion, Venango, and Craw- 
ford Counties. From Franklin the trail went up French Creek to where 
Meadville now is. This path is now called in history Meade's trail. This 
trail passed through what is now West Reynoldsville, Port Barnett, and 
Brookvilie, in Jefferson County. It entered Clarion County where the pike 
does and crossed the Clarion River at Clugh's Riffle. 

These men, with their goods packed on four horses, passed through where 
Brookvilie now is in 1788, and settled in and around what is now Meadville, 
then Allegheny County. Meade's trail commenced at the mouth of Ander- 
son's Creek, near Curwinsville, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, and over 
this trail until 1802 all transportation had to be carried into or through this 
wilderness on pack-saddles by pack-horses. A pack-horse load was from 
two to three hundred pounds. In 1802-03 the first wagon-road, or the old 
Milesburg and Waterford State Road, was opened for travel. The Meade 
settlers in Crawford County in 1788 comprised the pioneer permanent settle- 
ment in Northwestern Pennsylvania. 

Soon after David Meade and his neighbors reached their new home the 

459 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

great chief of the Six Nations, accompanied by a number of his tribe, made 
these pioneers a social visit. This chief was Cornplanter, and he was then 
chief over our Indians who belonged to this confederation. In one of these 
friendly visits Meade discovered that five white men who had been captured 
when boys were reared by the Indians and were then living under Corn- 
planter ; that these boys had all attained manhood and three of them had 
married Indian women. The five white men were Lashley Malone, of Bald 
Eagle Valley, Pennsylvania ; Peter Krause, of Monongahela ; Elijah Mat- 
thews, of Ohio ; Nicholas Rosencrants and Nicholas Tanewood, of Mohawk 
Valley, New York State. 

— /- In 1789 Darius Meade, father of David and John, Robert F. Randolph, 
and Frederick Baum passed over this " trail" on their way to what is now 
Meadville. Many of the pioneers who travelled over this trail to the north- 
west were captured and murdered by the Indians in the raids of 1791-92 and 
1793. In 1 79 1 Darins Meade was captured by two Indians while ploughing 
in a field. His captors were Captain Bull, a Delaware chief, and Conewyando, 
a Seneca chief. Meade in an effort to escape got possession of Bull's knife 
and killed Bull with it. and after a fierce struggle with Conewyando was 
killed, but Conewyando died in a few days from the wounds Meade gave him. 
Two of our soldiers buried Meade and Bull side by side where they fell. 

" Indian trails were ' bee lines' over hill and dale, from point to point. 
Here and there were open spots on the summits, where runners signalled their 
coming by fires when on urgent business, and were promptly met at stated 
places by fresh men." 

The ancient Indian path from Fort Venango to Fort Le Bceuf, was on 
the eastern side of French Creek, not far from the present lower road to 
Meadville, where it crossed and stretched over the island opposite the town, 
and continued on the western side a number of miles, and again crossed the 
creek. Major George Washington followed this path in 1753, on his journey 
to visit the French commander at Le Bceuf. 

After the French had departed, this region remained a cheerless solitude 
for many years. In 1788 the cheerful sound of the pioneer's axe broke upon 
the solemn stillness of the forests of Cussewago. David Meade and his brother 
John, two brothers of the Randolph family, Stophel Seiverling, James Miller, 
and Cornelius Van Horn came out from Northumberland County, by the way 
of Bald Eagle and the old Chinklacamoose path to the mouth ol French Creek, 
and thence up the creek until they discovered the beautiful flat where Mead- 
ville now stands. Several of these gentlemen had held lands in Wyoming 
Valley, under the Pennsylvania title, from which they had been driven by 
Connecticut claimants. Knowing well the quality of land and the value of 
a good title, they were cautious and judicious in their selections, as the fine 
estates now in possession of their families will show. Subsequent events, 
however, threatened to shake the foundation of their titles, and cast them out 

460 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

upon the wilderness for a new selection. The vexed questions, and numerous 
delays and lawsuits growing out of the land law of 1792, had a dispiriting 
influence upon the early settlers of Crawford County, until settled by the 
decision of the great Holland Land Company case, and others of a similar 
nature. Besides the gentlemen above mentioned, several others came a few 
years later, among whom were Mr. Heidekoper, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Lord, Mr. 
Morgan, Mr. Reynolds, on Oil Creek, and others. 

The biographies of several of these pioneers have been preserved, and 
furnish an excellent history of the county. The following is abridged from 
Rev. Timothy Alden's Allegheny Magazine, published at Meadville in 1816: 
" The Hon. David Meade, the first settler of the pleasant village which 
bears his name, was born at Hudson, New York. His father, Darius Meade 
(also an early settler in this county), when David became of age, removed 
to the Wyoming country, where they both had purchased lands under the 
Pennsylvania title. In consequence of the adverse claims, and the superior 
force of the Connecticut claimants, they were obliged to abandon their lands, 
and settled near Northumberland. David Meade became a citizen of Sunbury, 
where he kept an inn for a number of years. After various discouraging 
struggles with fortune, with the Indians, and the Wyoming boys, Mr. Meade 
resolved to leave that region, seek a new home, and commence a new career 
on the lands west of the Allegheny River. In 1788 he visited this section 
of the country, then a wilderness, in company with his brother John and 
several others. In 1789 he removed his family. Some time afterwards he 
obtained a remuneration from the State in lands, for those of which he had 
been dispossessed at Wyoming. 

" After several years of incessant toil and hardship, his prospects began 
to brighten ; but they were soon overcast with a gloomy cloud. Another 
Indian war menaced the infant settlements of the West. Man}' fled : 
those who remained were exposed to constant perils and privations. Mr. 
Meade, having an important interest here, continued on his plantation, re- 
solved to brave every danger, and bear every privation while the war should 
exist. The war was at length happily terminated by General Wayne, in 1795. 
For several months in 1791, when the Indians were daily expected to attempt 
the extermination of the people on French Creek, Mr. Meade with his family 
resided at Franklin, that he might have it in his power to repair to the 
garrison in that place as a last resort. During this period his father was 
taken, by two Indians, from a field where he was at work, and carried to the 
vicinity of Conneaut Lake. Some days afterwards he was found, together 
with one of the Indians, both dead, and bearing such marks of violence as 
showed they had had a contest; and it was deemed probable that the other 
Indian had been wounded in the encounter, from the circumstance of his 
companion having been left unburied. 

" Mr. Meade held the office of justice of the peace both at Wyoming and 

461 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

hero, lti 1S00 he became one of the associate judges for Crawford County, 
He was also a major-general in the militia. Lie was a man of uncommon 
bodily strength, Standing six feet three, and large in proportion — in deport- 
ment sedate and grave, but affable, easy of access, and without ostentation. 
1 lis vigorous mind was ever actively engaged upon public or private business. 
His first wife was Agnes Wilson, of Northumberland County; his second. 
Janet Finney, daughter of Robert Finney, Esq. His mansion was noted for 
hospitality, and in his later years the morning and evening sacrifice arose from 
his family altar, lie died on the 23d of August. [S16, in the sixty-fifth year 
of his age." 

The following is from the Crawford Messenger, of July, 1830: 
Pied at his farm, near Meadvilte, on the [6th hist, Robert F. Randolph, 
in the eighty-ninth year of his age. The deceased was born in Woodbridge 
Township. Ksso\ County, New Jersey. He married when young, and in 
1771 removed to Northampton County, Pennsylvania, where be resided two 
years; from whence he removed to Northumberland County, then on the 
frontier oi this State, there being hardly a white inhabitant above the spot 
where Northumberland now stands. There he resided until the year 1776. 
when hostilities commenced upon the inhabitants of the county, and they 
were driven from their homes by the savages. He with his family fled to 
Rucks County, but returned to his residence the same year. He then joined 
the regiment commanded by Colonel William Cook, and was with it in the 
memorable battle of Germantown. Shortly after his return from the army, 
the county of Northumberland, by one desolating sweep, was cut off. and 
its inhabitants driven out by the cruel and unrelenting band of the savages. 
Finding no prospect of peace or safety for his family, he returned to his 
native State, where they would be at least secure from the terrors of the 
scalping-knife. He then re-entered the army of the United States, in which 
capacity he served until the close of the war. 

" When peace was restored he returned, in 17S3. to Northumberland 
County, and settled on Shamokin Creek, where he continued to reside until 
17S0. when he with his family emigrated to this county, at that time one en- 
tire wilderness: and on the 6th of July, the same year, arrived on French 
Creek, near where the village of Meadville now stands, and settled on the 
farm upon which, till his death, he has ever since resided. When he made 
his selection and took possession, there were none to dispute his right but 
the tawny sons of the forest, from whose pitiless bands he had much to fear. 
Rut that spirit of enterprise, with an honest view of procuring a permanent 
home for himself and family, which had induced him to the wilderness and 
cheered his pathless way into it. continued to support him under every priva- 
tion, difficulty, and danger incident to the settlement of a new country. His 
zeal in the cause of freedom was unwavering. Of this fact, the following 
will serve as an illustration : In one of the alarms occasioned by the approach 

462 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

of the enemy to the town of Erie, during the late war, like the patriarch of 
old, he mustered a strong band of his own household, consisting of his four 
sons and two or three grandsons, put himself at their head, and thus armed 
and equipped marched to meet the expected foe." 

Mr. Cornelius Van Horn has been named as one of the early pioneers. 
He was still (1843) enjoying a quiet old age, on the farm, near Meadville, 
earned and cleared by the toils and exposures of his youth. The following 
story of his adventures was derived by the compiler of this work, in conver- 
sation with a member of Mr. Van Horn's family : 

" Mr. Cornelius Van Horn had been a settler in Wyoming Valley under 
the Pennsylvania title, and relinquished his possessions there under the com- 
promise, receiving compensation from the State. In 1788 he was persuaded 
by David Meade (who had also been a Pennamite) to make one of a party of 
nine to come out and settle in Crawford County. They took the route from 
Bald Eagle, in Centre County, over the Allegheny Mountains, nearly on the 
route of the present turnpike, struck the mouth of French Creek, and thence 
followed it up until they discovered the beautiful flat upon which Meadville 
is now seated. They here selected their lands, and entered upon their labors. 
Until 1791 nothing of special importance occurred, except that one day, as 
he was returning from Pittsburg with pack-horses, he was overtaken by an 
Indian near a lonely swamp; but he proved to be friendly. His name was 
McKee ; and from this friendly interview and exchange of provisions, cour- 
tesies, etc., commenced an acquaintance, which was afterwards probably the 
means of saving Van Horn's life. 

" In the month of May, 1791, Mr. Van Horn, Thomas Ray, and Mr. 
Gregg were ploughing on the island opposite the town. Gregg and Ray had 
gone in to fetch the dinner, when Van Horn, who continued ploughing, ob- 
served his horses take fright, and turning suddenly he saw a tall Indian about 
to strike him with his tomahawk, and another just behind. As quick as 
thought he seized the descending arm, and grappled with the Indian, hugging 
him after the manner of a bear. While in this close embrace, the other Indian 
attempted to shoot Van Horn ; but the latter, who was no novice in frontier 
tactics, kept turning round the Indian in his arms so as to present him as a 
shield against the bullet, and thus gained time enough to parley for his life. 
No fine-spun diplomacy was practised in this treaty : a few words of broken 
Indian on one side, and broken English on the other, resulted in a capitula- 
tion, by which he was to be taken prisoner, together with his horses. He 
was pinioned and taken to the top of the hill above the college, where they 
met the old chief and a fourth Indian. After some parley, the chief mounted 
one of the horses and the prisoner the other, and pursued their way towards 
Conneaut Lake; while the three other Indians returned to the island for 
further adventures. Gregg and Ray had just returned to their work, and 
were deliberating over the meaning of the tracks in the field, when they 

463 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

descried the three Indians. Gregg took to his heels, Kay calling to him to 
stand his ground like a man: but he was pursued, killed, and scalped. Ray 
was taken prisoner. 

'The old chief had tied Van Horn by a thong to a tree, in a sitting- 
posture, with his arms behind him; but the thong' working a little loose 
the chief pulled it obliquely up the tree to tighten it. and laid himself down 
in the bushes to sleep. Van Morn, by raising- himself, loosened the thong 
. mgh to allow hint to get a small knife out of his cuff, — he had previously, 
to conciliate his good-will and allay suspicion, presented the chief with his 
jack-knife, powder dints, tobacco, etc.— and cm himself loose from the tree. 




. fsnw 



on his arms. He made his way back to the settlement. 
where he an officer from Fort Franklin, who ordered the who'., co 

. ace, lest there might be a larger force of End 

inth« ty than had yet appea t Van Horn pleaded hard for permission 

. t. and leant the fate of R egg as the officer's ho se 

st, he was allowed to remain if he could c. to remain 

- him. A friendly Indian, by the name of Gilloway. agxexxl to remain: 

some oth< . . son it was thought necessary (this was to catch the 

horse"* that . idly India- cKee, should remain also. They found 

dng s< . '-...■ skins, furs etc th« can i embs se* 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Franklin. Gilloway, as lie was the least of the two, volunteered to ride the 
horse, while the others went in the canoe; but he rode the horse a little too 
far, and in the wrong direction, not being heard of again until he was seen 
at Sandusky. Van Horn afterwards had reason to think thai Gilloway had 
remained behind to murder him, bul that his plan hail been frustrated by 
the determination of McKee to slay also; and he then stole the horse. 

"Van I lorn and McKee determined to return from Franklin; and, by 
way of getting an early start, to lodge in a deserted cabin, a mile or two this 
side of Franklin. The commanding officer urged in vain the danger of a 
surprise and attack from savages. Van I lorn and his comrade thought them- 
selves competent to the defence of their position. In the night, however, the 
officers and soldiers of the garrison determined to make good their surmises, 
and have a little fnn, by raising a whoop, and surrounding the cabin where 
Van I lorn lay. The latter, hearing the noise, was on the alert ; anil while the 
soldiers were listening at the door, they heard Van I lorn make arrangements 
with his comrade that Ik- should stand by to haul them into the cabin, while 
he cut them down at the door with an axe. This was a kind id' sport for 
which the party was nol prepared, and they withdrew, laughing at the frustra- 
tion of their own scheme. Van I lorn soon after went to Jersey to attend to 
his Wyoming business, and then returned. Some few parties of Indians 
skulked about until after Wayne's treaty, when they all disappeared. 

"When the three Indians with Ray had arrived at Conneaut Lake, and 
waked up the old child', and found his prisoner gone, they told Ray that it 
was fortunate for him, as they could have taken only one prisoner away 
with them. They took him to Sandusky, where he recognized an English 
trader, who bought him <>!'( fur a keg of whiskey. He returned by the lake 
to Olean, and thence down the Allegheny. ( >n passing Franklin he inquired 
of those on shore for his ' Sally,' and being told she was in Pittsburg, pursued 
his way down there, where he found her. 

"James Dixon, another old settler, belter known as Scotch Jemmy, was 
surprised by a number of Indians in the woods, and shot at several times. 
Me turned his face toward them, levelled his rifle, and dared the rascals to 
come out of the woods like men, and give him fair play. ' Noo coom on wi' 
vour wee axe,' said jemmy. With his rifle thus presented, he continued to 
walk backward until out of reach of their lire; and reached the old block- 
house, that stood where the blacksmith's shop is, near Bennett's tavern. This 
occurred about 1793 or 1794." 

In a number of the Messenger, published in September, 1828, the editor, 
T. Atkinson, Esq., says, — 

" In two months more, iivcnty-fivc years will have elapsed since we ar- 
rived in this village with our printing establishment, being the first, and for 
several subsequent years, the only one northwest of the Allegheny River. 
How short the period, yet how fruitful of interesting events! Our village at 
30 465 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

that time consisted of a few scattered tenements, or what might properly be 
termed huts. It is now surpassed by few, if any, in Western Pennsylvania 
for its numerous, commodious, and, in many instances, beautiful dwelling- 
houses, churches, academy, court-house, with a splendid edifice for a college ; 
all affording pleasing evidence of the enterprise, the taste, and the liberality 
of its inhabitants. Then we were without roads, nothing but Indian-paths by 
which to wind our way from one point to another. Now turnpikes and ca- 
pacious roads converge to it from every quarter. Then the mail passed be- 
tween Pittsburg and Erie once in two weeks ; now eighteen stages arrive and 
depart weekly. Then we had not unfrequently to pack our paper on horse- 
back upward of two hundred miles ; on one hundred and thirty miles of this 
distance there were but three or four houses ; now, however, thanks to an 
enterprising citizen of the village, it can be had as conveniently as could be 
desired. Our country is marching onward." 




Meadville, i 



Meadville was named after General David Meade. Twenty-three years 
after the organization of Crawford County the county-seat remained a village, 
but on March 29, 1823, it was incorporated as a borough. 

Its growth is as follows: In 1800, one hundred ?nd twenty-five people; 
in 1810, three hundred people; in 1820, six hundred and sixty-six people; in 
1830, eleven hundred and four people; in 1840, thirteen hundred and nineteen 
people. 

The pioneer burgess was Thomas Atkinson, in 1823. 

The pioneer post-office was established in 1801, with Frederick Hay- 
maker, postmaster. 

The pioneer cemetery was an acre of ground on what is now Park 
Avenue. It was a Presbyterian graveyard. 

Day says, in 1840, — 

466 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" The churches are a Presbyterian, Cumberland Presbyterian, Episcopal, 
Methodist, Baptist, and Unitarian. There is also an academy, several paper- 
mills, an oil-mill, an edge-tool manufactory, and quite a number of other mills, 
driven by the ample water-power in the vicinity. 

" On the northern border of the town Colonel Magaw, the inventor of 
straw paper, had formerly a commodious mill for its manufacture. He had 
previously conducted a rag-paper establishment. On examining some straw 
which had been placed at the bottom of a barrel of leached ashes, he observed 
that it looked soft, and thought it might make paper. Perceiving its tough- 
ness and adhesive quality, he chewed some of it, rubbed it on a board, and 
placed it in the sun to dry. He succeeded in making paper on a small scale, 
obtained a patent-right, and erected his straw paper mill. It is said an edition 
of the New Testament was printed upon it, costing only five cents per copy." 

" A canal-boat was launched at Meadville on the 28th of November, 1828, 
built of materials that were growing on the banks of French Creek the day 
before ! The boat left for Pittsburg on the 30th, having on board twenty 
passengers, and three hundred reams of paper manufactured from straw."- — 
Crawford Messenger. 

The Rev. Charles William Colson, or Von Colson, who died at Mead- 
ville December 20, 1816, was the founder and pastor of the Lutheran Church 
of Meadville. 

In 1790 David Meade completed a log saw-mill, and the first raft of 
lumber that ever descended French Creek and the Allegheny River to Pitts- 
burg was from this mill, in the spring of 1790. In the fall of 1790 a grist-mill 
was attached. A distillery was added to the mills in 1805. 

The pioneer bank of Crawford County was established in Meadville on 
October 28, 1814. The bank was located on the east side of Water Street 
above Walnut. In 1820 it had financial troubles, and in the fall of 1822 closed 
its doors. 

The pioneer Masonic Lodge was instituted September 23, 1817, with the 
following officers : Robert L. Potter, W. M. ; David Logan, S. W. ; David 
Molthrop, J. W. ; J. T. Cummings, Treasurer ; John D. Morrison, Secretary. 
This lodge disbanded about 1833. The new Masonic Lodge was instituted in 
Meadville as Crawford Lodge, No. 284, F. and A. M., organized November 
14, 1848. 

The pioneer travelling circus was Harrington's, in the fall of 1819. He 
had a living African lion. 

In pioneer days it was not unusual for Crawford County people to go ten, 
twenty, and more miles to a log grist-mill through the pathless forest, to be 
benighted and on their road home chased by wolves. A wagon was a 
wonder in those days, and the man that had one usually did the milling for 
the whole settlement. 

In 1797 three kegs of seneca oil were appraised at fifty cents each. 

467 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

The wild animals were the same as in the other parts of the Northwest 
Purchase, as were the birds, snakes, and reptiles. 

A French Memoir written in 1714 said buffaloes are found on the south 
shore of Lake Erie, but not on the north. 

The amount paid out for bounty in Crawford County for wolf and fox 
scalps from 1803 until 1835 was nve thousand nine hundred and seventy-six 
dollars. 

In 1806 the premium for full-grown wolf's ears was eight dollars, and 
three dollars for a puppy. In 1819 the premium was twelve dollars and five 
dollars, respectively. 

Bee-trees were numerous ; also wild turkeys and pheasants, and the 
small streams abounded in trout. The elk was rarely seen west of the 
Allegheny River. 

In 181 1 black squirrels were very numerous, but the gray squirrel did 
not appear until some years after the county began to be settled. In conse- 
quence of the devastation of these vermin and the premium offered by the 
State, regular squirrel-hunts were organized up to as late as 1840. On these 
days of contest hundreds of squirrels were slain by the contesting parties. 

Pigeons clouded the country in the spring and fall. Their roosting- 
places, however, were the Conneaut and Pymatuning marshes, feeding on the 
beech-nuts and acorns. Panthers were scarce and not often seen, and seldom 
heard. 

In 18 19 the bounty on a panther's scalp was twelve dollars, and five dol- 
lars for a cub. The beaver inhabited the Conneaut and Pymatuning marshes. 

Horse-flies were so numerous that horses exposed to them would die 
through pain and loss of blood. 

Salt was an early trade, and in 1805 sold at Meadville at eleven dollars 
per barrel, and at Pittsburg at thirteen dollars per barrel. 

In 181 5 a salt-well was sunk in Beaver Township by Samuel B. Magaw 
and William Clark, of Meadville. Salt water was found at a depth of one 
hundred and eighty-six feet, but little was accomplished. 

In the Messenger of November 7, 1818, we find the following: "The 
salt-works of Messrs. Shryock & Co. are now in operation in the west end 
of this county. The production at present will average about ten bushels 
per day. The water appearing sufficient, it is intended to increase the num- 
ber of boilers, when double the quantity can be made. The salt is of excellent 
quality." The shaft was finally sunk to the depth of three hundred feet, with 
the hope of tapping a still richer vein, but instead of pure salt water being 
found, the fluid came forth mixed with petroleum, and therefore became 
useless for any purpose. An effort was still made to continue the works, but 
they did not pay and were abandoned in 1821. This undoubtedly was the 
pioneer oil-well. 

" The hauling of the salt over the portage between Erie and Waterford. 

468 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

and the floating of it down French Creek, gave employment to many citizens 
of this part of the State. To some farmers the trade was really a Godsend, 
as their land barely furnished food for their families, and, there being no 
markets for the little they had to sell, they were obliged by necessity to spend 
a part of their time at some other employment to raise money for taxes, 
groceries, and clothing. This was especially the case just before and imme- 
diately after the war of 1812-15, when the times were very hard. It is esti- 
mated that when the trade was at its best, one hundred teams and as many 
persons were constantly on the road between Erie and Waterford, The time 
for making each trip was calculated at two days, and the average load for 
a four-ox team was fourteen barrels. The price paid at first was from one 
dollar and fifty cents to three dollars per barrel, which was finally reduced 
to one dollar, and at the close to fifty cents. Prior to the completion of the 
Erie and Waterford Turnpike, the road was always bad, and it was not un- 
usual for a wagon-load of freight to get stuck in the mud, and be four days 
in crossing the portage. On many occasions a part of the burden had to 
be abandoned on the way, and a second trip made to get it to its destination. 
A number of warehouses were erected on the bank of Le Bceuf Creek at 
Waterford for storing the salt until the water was at a suitable stage for 
floating it down French Creek. The salt was bought at Salina for sixty 
cents per bushel, and the price at Meadville ranged from five dollars to twelve 
dollars a barrel. It required from two to three months to convey it from 
the place of manufacture to Pittsburg. There was a period when salt was 
one of the circulating mediums in this region of country. Oxen, horses, 
negro slaves, and land were sold to be paid for in so much salt. As a sample, 
Hamlin Russell, father of N. W. Russell, of Belle Valley, Erie County, ex- 
changed a yoke of oxen for eight barrels, and Rufus S. Reed purchased of 
General Kelso a colored boy, who was to be held to service under the State 
law until he was twenty-eight years old, for one hundred barrels. The price 
that season was five dollars per barrel, making the value of the slave five 
hundred dollars. The discovery of salt-wells on the Kiskiminitas and Ka- 
nawha, about 1813, cheapened the price of the article at Pittsburg, so that 
Salina could not compete, and the trade by way of Erie steadily diminished 
until it ceased altogether in 1819." 

Work commenced on the Waterford and Erie Turnpike in 1806, and the 
road was completed in 1809. This turnpike was a paying property until 1845, 
when it was abandoned to the township. 

The Mercer and Meadville Turnpike Company was incorporated in 1817. 
In 1821 it was completed and open for travel. This was a through line from 
Lake Erie to the Ohio River. 

In 1810 there were roads to all points south, east, and west. The roads 
were poor ; horseback riding and a foot-back were the usual modes of 
travelling. 

469 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

The pioneer bridge over French Creek, in Crawford County, was built 
about 1810 or 181 1. 

"In 1 80 1 a weekly mail route was established between Erie and Pitts- 
burg, via Waterford, Meadville, and Franklin. By 1803 it had been reduced 
to once in two weeks, but was soon changed back to the original plan, and 
in 1806 the route changed to pass through Mercer instead of Franklin. The 
mode of transportation for some years was on horseback, and it is said that 
the mail was often so insignificant as to be easily carried in the driver's 
breeches pockets. During a good part of the time the pouch was carried on 
the back of a single horse ; then the mail increased in size so that two horses 
were required, one carrying the driver and the other the mail ; and later a 
horse and wagon became necessary. A semi-weekly mail was established 
through Meadville, from Erie to Pittsburg, Harrisburg, and Philadelphia, 
in 1818; a tri-weekly in February, 1824; and a daily in 1827. 

" The first stage-route was established over the Susquehanna and Water- 
ford, and the Erie and Waterford Turnpikes, from Bellefonte to Erie, by 
Robert Clark, of Clark's Ferry, in 1820, the first stage-coach arriving at 
Meadville, on November 7. By 1824 the route was completed through to 
Philadelphia via Harrisburg. In 1821 the route to Pittsburg, by way of 
Mercer and Butler, was completed. Gibson's Hotel was the stage depot at 
Meadville. By 1835 a daily line of steamers connected with the stages at 
Erie, and the fare from Pittsburg to Buffalo was but six dollars." 

The pioneer murder in Meadville was the killing of his squaw by a 
drunken Indian in 1805. Another early murder was the killing of Hugh 
Fitzpatrick by George Speth Van Holland, on February 7, 1817. He was 
tried in May, 1817, convicted and sentenced, and executed July 26, 1817. 
David Lamphier was hanged at Meadville in the fall of 1822 for the murder 
of a constable by the name of Smith. 

The pioneer session of the court in Crawford County, which was in 
1800, was held by Associate Judges Meade and Kelso in the upper story of 
William Dick's residence, corner of Water Street and Cherry Alley. In 
April, 1801, Alexander Addison, Presiding Judge, William Bell, and Judge 
Kelso held the regular term of court in that house, as well as all others up 
until 1804, when the log court-house was erected. The jurisdiction of this 
court extended then over the counties of Crawford, Erie, Mercer, Venango, 
and Warren, all of which were organized for judicial purposes under the 
name of Crawford County. 

In 1843 there were several small villages in Crawford County, — to wit, 
Centreville, Titusville, Cambridge, Rockville, Saegerstown, Evansburg, Hartz- 
town, Adamsville, Espyville, Harmonsburg, and Conniotville. 

Lawyers then usually rode the circuit, and when stopping at the taverns, 
if expected, were fed on chickens, dried apples, maple sugar, corn dodgers, 
and old whiskey. 

470 



O H 




NEW YORK 



WARREN 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

In this history I have to contract. It is only intended to be outlined, and 
many things that I would like to mention I have to entirely abnegate. I can 
say little of the war of 1812. 

" The following is a partial list of army officers of the Northwest who 
participated in the war, most of whom made Erie their head-quarters : 
Quartermaster-General, Wilson Smith, 1812-14. Commissary-General, Col- 
lendar Irvine. Major-Generals, Sixteenth Division, David Meade, 1812-14; 
John Philips, 1814; Roger Alden, 1814-15. Brigadier-Generals, First Bri- 
gade, Sixteenth Division, John Kelso, 1812-14; Henry Hurst, 1814. Second 
Brigade, Thomas Graham, 1812. Brigade Inspector, First Brigade, Sixteenth 
Division, William Clark ; Second Brigade, Samuel Powers. Paymaster, 
John Philips, 1812-13. Colonel David Nelson, Major and Lieutenant- 
Colonel Dr. John C. Wallace, Majors Ralph Marling, James Herriott, 
Patrick Farrelly, John Brooks, and William Moore. Commissaries, Rufus 
S. Reed, Stephen Wolverton. Captains, Isaac Mason, James Cochran, John 
Collom, Thomas Havlin, and James McKnight. 

" Though a treatv of peace between the two nations was signed at Ghent, 
Belgium, December 24, 1814, the news did not reach the L T nited States in 
time to prevent the battle of New Orleans, fought January 8, 1815, and which 
vet shines as one of the most brilliant victories in the history of the nation. 
Peace was publicly proclaimed February 18, 1815, and on that date the glad 
tidings reached Crawford County by an express which had left Washington, 
D. C, the previous Tuesday for Erie, Pennsylvania, passing through Mead- 
ville in its route." 

TITUSVILLE 

The village was planned by Jonathan Titus, although Mr. Titus had 
settled there in 1796. In lumbering days, 1820, Jonathan Titus's cabin was 
a regular stopping-place. 

Titusville was incorporated by act of Assembly, approved March 6, 
1847. The pioneer Burgess was Joseph L. Chase, in 1848. 

The pioneer school structure was log, erected in 1817. 

The Presbyterian church was erected in 1815, was log, and was used 
for several years for school purposes. 

BOROUGH OF COXNEAUTVILLE 

Incorporated by act of Legislature in 1843-44. The pioneer Burgess 
was John E. Patton. Alexander Power was the founder of the village. 

Rockville was incorporated ' by ' act of Assembly in 1844, and named 
Woodcock. Henry Minium laid it out and christened it Rockville in the 
spring of 1819. He did not live in Rockville until 1824. 

BOROUGH OF SAEGERSTOWN 

The village was incorporated by act of Assembly in 1838. The pioneer 
post-office was established in 1833. Daniel Saeger settled here in 1824. 

473 



CHAPTER XXVII 



CLARION COUNTY FORMATION OF COUNTY LOCATION OF COUNTY SEAT ROADS 

— COURTS TURNPIKES EDUCATION CHURCHES SETTLERS PIONEER 

CONDITIONS JUDGE CLOVER TRAILS CAPTAIN SAM BRADY LUMBERING 

FURNACES RIVER STOREKEEPER 



''Clarion County was established by an act passed March n, 1839, 
which defines the boundaries as follows : ' That all those parts of Armstrong 
and Venango Counties, lying and being within the following boundaries, — to 
wit, beginning at the junction of the Red Bank Creek with the Allegheny 
River, thence up said creek to the line dividing Toby and Saratoga Town- 
ships in Venango County, thence along said line to the corner of Farmington 
Township, in Venango County, thence a straight line to the mouth of Shull's 
Run, on the Allegheny River, thence down said river to the place of begin- 
ning, be and the same is hereby declared to be erected into a county, hence- 
forth to be called Clarion.' 

" By the same act James Thompson, John Gilmore, and Samuel L. Car- 
penter were appointed commissioners, to fix upon a proper and convenient 
site for a seat of justice. Mr. Thompson resigned, and by the act of June 
25, John P. Davis, of Crawford County, was appointed to supply the vacancy. 

" Clarion is bounded on the north by Venango County, on the east by 
Jefferson, on the south by Armstrong, and by the Allegheny River on the 
west, separating it from Armstrong, Butler, and Venango. By the return of 
the census of 1840, its population and general statistics are included in that 
of Armstrong and Venango Counties. The number of inhabitants within the 
new county exceed fifteen thousand. Average length, twenty-five miles ; 
breadth, twenty-four miles ; area, five hundred and ninety-five square miles. 

" Education receives considerable attention. Nearly all the districts had, 
a few years ago, adopted the general system of common schools. Besides 
ninety common schools, there is an academy of advanced standing in the 
county town. 

" The prevailing religious denominations are Presbyterians, Baptists, 
Methodists, Lutherans, and Catholics, all of whom have houses for public 
worship. The inhabitants are generally characterized for industry, sobriety, 
and morality. Few idlers are to be found in this county. They are literally 
' worked out.' The people do not stand lounging. 

" Clarion, the county seat, situated on the east side of the Clarion River. 

474 




** 3 T R O 



G 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

on the Bellefonte and Meadville turnpike road, was laid out by the com- 
missioners in 1840. The land had been owned by General Levi G. Clover, 
James P. Hoover, Peter Clover, Jr., heirs of Philip Clover, of Strattonville, 
and the Hon. Christian Myers. ' These persons made a donation of the town 
site to the county, on condition of receiving half the proceeds from the sales 
of lots. Space for the county buildings and a public square, were reserved 
from sale.' 

" The public buildings are a neat court-house of brick, surmounted with 
a cupola, a county prison, built of sandstone, and a spacious academy, built 
of brick. The borough is well laid out, neatness and much taste are displayed 




Clarion, 1S43 

in both public and private buildings, and a brisk air of enterprise is presented 
everywhere in this town. There are several churches here. 

" Besides the county town, there are several thriving towns and villages 
in this county. The principal ones are Strattonville, Shippensville, Curles- 
ville, Greenville, Callensburg, Edinburg, Reimersburg, etc. 

" Strattonville was laid out by Mr. John Stratton, from New Jersey, in 
1830. It is on the turnpike road, about three miles east of the county town. 
It had seen, until lately, better days. It was the principal place of business 
for an extensive circle of thrifty and industrious farmers. Business has been 
principally diverted from this village to Clarion. There are several churches 
in, and near this village. 

" Shippensville, called after its proprietor, the Hon. Judge Shippen, of 
Meadville, who laid out this town in 1826, is on the turnpike road, seven miles 
west of Clarion. It is a place of considerable business, and will undoubtedly 
increase rapidly. A few years ago the Lutherans erected a church in this 
town. 

" Curlesville is a small village on the right bank of Licking Creek, near 
the township line, between Red Bank and Toby Townships. Greenville is 

477 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

situated near the head of Piney Creek, on the right bank, about one mile 
northwest of the Olean road. Callensburg is on the right bank of Licking 
Creek, at its mouth." — History of Western Pennsylvania. 

The court-house was built by Edward Derby and Levi G. Clover, cost 
ten thousand six hundred and thirty-six dollars, and was completed in 1842. 

Clarion was made a borough April 6, 1841. The pioneer burgess was 
James Sloan. The pioneer storekeeper was John Potter. The pioneer post- 
master was David Wilson, in 1840. In 1841 Clarion contained seven hundred 
and fourteen people. The Presbyterian church was organized May 15, 1841, 
in the jail, and the pioneer church-building was completed in 1844. 

Clarion County is bounded on the north by Forest County, on the west 
by Venango County, on the south by Red Bank Creek and the Allegheny 
River, and on the east by Jefferson County. 

It was stipulated in the act of March 11, 1839, that the county organi- 
zation for judicial purposes should go into effect on September 1, 1840, and 
the county was attached to the Sixth Judicial District, composed of the 
counties of Erie, Crawford, and Venango. Hon. Alexander McCalmont, of 
Franklin, was the pioneer judge; Christian Myers and Charles Evans were 
the pioneer associate judges. The pioneer court was held the first Monday 
in November, 1840, in a private house. At this court twenty-three lawyers 
were present. 

John Sloan plotted the town of Clarion in 1839, and but one house then 
stood on the present site. The pioneer sale of lots was in October, 1839. The 
court-house and jail were put under contract in the fall of 1839. The court- 
house was not finished until 1843, an d the upper story in the jail was used 
for court and church purposes until that time. The pioneer election for 
officers was held October 13, 1840. The following were chosen: James 
Hasson, for sheriff ; James Goe, for prothonotary, etc. ; John Reed, for 
coroner ; George L. Benn. Jacob Miller, and Gideon Richardson, for com- 
missioners ; John Elliot, Joseph C. King, and George Means, for auditors. 
Joseph K. Boyd was the first resident lawyer. 

The Clarion River divides the county in about the centre. 

In 1844 the waters of what is now called the Clarion were as clear as 
crystal, pure as life, and gurgled into the river from mountain springs. No 
tannery or other refuse was to be found in it. In 1749 the French named the 
stream Gall River. It was declared a public highway, as Toby's Creek, by 
an act of the Legislature, March 21, 1798, up to the second great fork. 

In early times this river was known as Stump Creek, and sometimes 
as Toby's Creek. It was called Toby's Creek as early as 1758. In 1819 we 
have the first official notice by an act of the Legislature designating the river 
Clarion. 

In an act to authorize the erection of a dam, passed in 1822, this stream 
is designated as " Toby's Creek, otherwise called Clarion River." 

478 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Of the pioneer settlers who came over Mead's trail and settled in what 
is now Jefferson and Clarion Counties, Judge Peter Clover, of Clarion County, 
in 1877, wrote as follows : 

" As stated in the outset, I will give a brief account of the pioneer settle- 
ment of Jefferson County. In 1800, Joseph Barnett and Samuel Scott settled 
forty miles west of Curwensville, Clearfield County. They were men of great 
energy and industry, and soon made valuable improvements. They built a 
saw-mill, which was a great help to the people, providing them with boards, 
etc. Thev settled among the Indians of the Seneca tribe, who were, however, 
civil. Joseph Barnett was a very eccentric, high-minded man, and took a 
leading part in all the business transactions of the day ; a man long to be 




Hon. Peter Clover 

remembered by those who knew him. Shortly after their mill was made, 
perhaps as early as 1802, Henry Fir, a German, and a number of other families 
settled on the west of Mill Creek, — Jacob Mason, L. Long, John Dickson, 
Freedom Stiles, and a very large negro by the name of Fudge Vancamp, 
whose wool was as white as the wool of a sheep and whose face was as black 
as charcoal, and yet he was married to a white woman ( ?). 

" In about 1802 John Scott came to Jefferson County and settled on the 
farm where Corsica now stands, and about 1805 Peter Jones, John Roll, Sr., 
the Vastbinder families, and Elijah Graham, and, in 1806, John Matson and 
some others settled near where Brookville now stands. In the southern part 
of Jefferson county, near Mahoning, John Bell settled at an early day. He 

479 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

was a man of iron will and groat perseverance, afraid of neither man nor 
boast, and was a mighty humor. Moses Knapp was also an early sottlor. 

Port Harnett.' as the settlement of Harnett and Scott was called, was the only 
Stopping-place from Cnrwensville for all those who came in 1S01 02 through 
or for the wilderness over the ' trail.' We imagine that these buildings 
would have a very welcome look to those footsore and weary travellers. — an 
oasis in the desert, as it were. 

"In the year iSoi, with a courage nothing could daunt, ten men left 
their old homes and all the comforts of the more thickly settled and older 
portions of the eastern part of the State for the unsettled wilderness of the 
more western part, leaving behind them the many associations which render 
the old home so dear, and going forth, strong in might and firm in the faith 
of the God of their fathers, to plant homes audi erect new altars, around which 
to rear their young families. Brave hearts beat in the bosoms of those men 
and women who made so many and great sacrifices in order to develop the 
resources of a portion of country almost unknown at that time. When we 
look abroad to-day and see what rapid strides have been made in the march 
of civilization, we say all honor to our forefathers who did so great a part 
of the work. It would be difficult for those of the present day to imagine 
how families could move upon horseback through an almost unbroken wilder- 
ness, with no road save an ' Indian trail,' the women and children mounted 
. :-. horses, the cooking utensils, farming implements, such as hoes. axes, 
ploughs, and shovels, together with bedding and provision, placed on what 
were called pack-saddles, while following- upon foot were the men with guns 
upon their shoulders, ready to take down any small game that might cross 
their path, which would go toward making up their next meal. After a 
long- and toilsome journey these pioneers halted on their course in what was 
then called Armstrong County (now Clarion County), and they immediately 
aegan the clearing- of their lands, which they had purchased from General 
Tames Potter, of the far-famed ' Fotter Fort.' in Penn's Valley, in Centre 
ntj . familiar to every one who has ever read of the terrible depredations 
. omitted by the Indians in that part of die country at an early period 
of its history. 

'The names of the men were as follows: William Young. Sr.. Philip 
[ iver, Sr.. John Love. James Potter. John Roll. Sr.. James McFadden. 
John C. Corbet. Samuel Wilson. Sr.. William Smith, and Philip Clover. Jr. 
Samuel Wilson returned to Centre County to spend the winter, but death 
In the following- spring of 1S0J his widow and her five sons 
returned, — namely. Robert. John. William, Samuel, and David. Those who 
did not rakv families along in 1S01 built their cabins, cleared sc 

.'.. put in some wheat, raised potatoes and turnips, put them in their 
cabins and covered them with earth for safe-keeping for the next summer's 

- said when they got all their work done, in the fall they returned to 

4S0 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

their families in Centre and Mifflin Counties. In the spring of 1802 those, 
with some others, who also came at an early date, James Laughlin and 
Frederick Miles, built a saw-mill in 1804, at or near the mouth of Pine 
Creek, and they were the first to run timber to Pittsburg from what is now 
Clarion County. 

" The food and raiment of the first settlers made a near approach to 
that of John the Baptist in the wilderness. Instead of locusts they had 
wild turkey, deer, and bear meat, and their raiment consisted of home- 
spun woollen, linen, or tow cloth, the wool and flax being all prepared 
for weaving by hand, there being no carding-machines in the county for 
many years after its first settlement; then women carded by hand. When 
woollen cloth was wanted for men's wear, the process of fulling was as 
follows : The required quantity of flannel was laid upon the bare floor, 
and a quantity of soap and water thrown over it; then a number of men 
seated upon stools would take hold of a rope tied in a circle and begin to 
kick the flannel with their bare feet. When it was supposed to be fulled 
sufficiently, the men were released from their task, which was a tiresome 
one, yet a mirth provoking one, too, for, if it were possible, one or so must 
come from his seat, to be landed in the midst of the heap of flannel and 
soapsuds, much to the merriment of the more fortunate ones. Flax was 
prepared by drying over a fire, then breaking, scutching, and hackling before 
being ready to spin. The linen and tow cloth supplied the place of muslin 
and calico of the present day. That which was for dress goods was made 
striped, either by color or blue through the white, which was considered 
a nice summer suit, when made into what was called a short gown and 
petticoat, which matched very well with the calfskin slippers of that day. 
The nearest store was at Kittanning, thirty-five miles distant, and calico was 
fifty cents per yard, and the road but a pathway through the woods. 

" In those days men appeared at church in linen shirts with collars 
four inches wide turned down over the shoulders, linen vest ; no coat in 
summer. Some wore cowhide shoes, others moccasins of buckskin, others 
again with their feet bare. In winter, men wore deerskin pantaloons and 
a long loose robe called a hunting-shirt, bound round the body with a 
leathern girdle, and some a flannel warmus, which was a short kind of a coat, 
the women wearing flannel almost exclusively in the winter. 

" During the first two years after the first settlement the people had to 
pack their flour upon horseback from Centre, Westmoreland, and Indiana 
Counties ; also their iron and salt, which was at ten dollars per barrel ; iron 
fifteen cents per pound. Coffee and tea were but little used, tea being four dol- 
lars per pound, coffee seventy-five cents. Those articles were considered great 
luxuries, both from the high price at which they came, and the difficulties 
attending their transportation through the woods, following the Indian trail. 
As to vegetables and animal food, there was no scarcity, as every one had 
31 481 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

gardens and the forest abounded with wild game, and then there were some 
expert huntsmen that kept the settlement supplied with meat. Those who 
were not a sure shot themselves would go and work for the hunter while he 
would go out and supply his less fortunate neighbor. Many, however, got 
along badly, some having nothing but potatoes and salt for substantials. 
1 knew one hunter who killed one hundred and fifty deer and twenty 
bears in the first two years of the settlement, besides any amount of small 
game. When people began to need barns and larger houses, one would start 
cut and invite the whole country for miles around, often going ten or twelve 
miles, and then it often took two or three days to raise a log barn, using 
horses to help to get up the logs." 

Judge Peter Clover says. — 

'* The first white man who settled within the limits of Clarion County 
was Captain Samuel Brady, who settled on the land upon which East 
Brady now stands, about the close of the Revolutionary War. and remained 
long enough to obtain a settlement right. 

" Captain Brady was born on the Susquehanna, near Northumberland, 
and his father and mother were both killed by the Indians. He swore eternal 
vengeance against the whole savage tribe, and became during the Revolu- 
tionary War a noted Indian hunter and scout, and conducted many small 
expeditions through Western Pennsylvania and Ohio against the Indians for 
General Broadhead, who was the commander of Fort Pitt. A description 
of these will not be of interest in this sketch, except what relates to Clarion 
County. 

" The Indians had become very troublesome along the Allegheny River. 
and had committed many depredations on the lower settlements. General 
Broadhead started with a considerable force up the river after them. Cap- 
tain Brady, who was in advance with a small body of scouts, discovered 
the Indians on the flat where East Brady and Mr. Cunningham's farm 
now are. and. with the eye of a commander of no small merit, he took in 
the situation in a moment. He. being familiar with the locality, concluded 
the Indians would make for the narrow pass where the steep hill puts in 
between East Brady and Catfish. So. without giving them any notice of his 
presence, he stationed himself and his men along the rocky cliff. The 
Indians, as soon as the main army approached, retreated up the river with 
intent to gain the narrow pass, which a small force could easily defend 
against a large one. But when they arrived there they found Captain 
Brady and bis men in this impregnable position, who opened fire upon them, 
and with the main army in their rear escape seemed impossible: and few 
did escape. Some attempted to cross the river where the water is always 
dead, and nearly the whole party were killed or taken prisoners. 

" Captain Brady had only a cabin on this land, and followed hunting 
game and Indians after the war closed. He was indicted in Pittsburg for 

4S2 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

killing an Indian, and gave the Brady's Bend tract of land to Judge Ross, 
who was an attorney in Pittsburg at that time, for defending him, and 
who succeeded in having him acquitted. Judge Ross did obtain the title to 
this land, but the recital in the deeds on record do not show how or from 
whom he received his title. 

" During the war of 1812 Captain Neely raised a company of volunteer 
minute men for the protection of the harbor of Erie. He was the captain, 
James Thompson first lieutenant, and Nathaniel Lang second lieutenant. 
The)' held themselves in readiness to march at any moment, and were under 
command of General Meade. In 1814 they were ordered out just in harvest 
time. In a few hours they were on their march to Lake Erie, leaving the 
harvest, then just ripe, to the care of the women and children, taking with 
them their provisions and bedding not furnished by the government, but by 
themselves. This company was composed of the old settlers I have named, 
and many others. There were, during that war, many who went with 
General Robert Orr (then major) in his memorable campaign to Fort 
Meigs. Among these may be mentioned Colonel John Sloan, the noted Indian 
fighter. The second settler was Absalom Travis, about 1792. 

" The first settlements on Red Bank Creek were made in 1801-2-3-5, by 
Archibald McKelip, Henry Nulf, Jacob Hetrick, John Shafer, John Mohney, 
Jacob Miller, the Doverspike family, Moses Kirkpatrick, William Latimer, 
John Ardery, John Wilkins, John Washy, and Calvin McNutt. Some of 
the above-named came from Westmoreland County, some from Lehigh 
County. 

" The first child that was born in the county was Mary Guthrie, and 
the second was Thomas Young. 

" The first church that was organized was the Presbyterian. Its first 
regular pastor was the Rev. Robert McGarrah. When he first began to 
preach I do not know, but it must have been as early as 1804. He 
was ordained in the year 1806, at Thomas Brown's, near Reidsburg. The 
pioneer Presbyterian Churches were Licking and New Rehoboth, both organ- 
ized in 1802 by Rev. John McPherrin. 

" The first store was kept where Rimersburg now stands, by a good old 
man by the name of James Pinks, in 1812. People from a great distance 
went there to make their purchases. 

" At the breaking out of the war of 1812 there was a draft made in 
Clarion County, and a number of our neighbors were drafted into the army. 
It was a sad day for all. I well remember, as a boy, the morning they 
started. They were all to meet at my father's, and when they were all ready 
to go they discharged their guns in a tree-top that stood near by, and amid 
many tears they marched away. The army was gathered along the lakes and 
at the different forts, this being after Hull's surrender. The names of those 
that were drafted were Captain John Guthrie, Alexander and Thomas 

483 




HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Guthrie, William Maffett, Robert Allison, John, James, and Joshua Rea, 
John Wilson, Jacob Fiscus, Hugh Reid, Henry Goheen. James Guthrie went 
as a substitute for William Maffett and Hugh Reid; Captain Guthrie was 
discharged at Pittsburg, Captain Wallace taking command. Out of all who 
went, none were lost ; they all returned. 

" In 1840 the townships comprising Clarion County, and the population 
of each, although reported in the census returns of the county to which 
they had formerly belonged, were as follows : 

"Townships from Armstrong County: Clarion, 2239; Madison, 1305; 
Monroe, 1151; Perry, 1122; Reclbank, 3070; Toby, 1829. 

"Townships from Venango County: Beaver, 1611; Elk, 585; Farm- 
ington, 799; Paint, 491 ; Richland. 1388. 

" Total population, 15,590. 




Turning; a boat 



" In the forties the lumber and boat-building business was very flourish- 
ing in this county. 

" The iron business was commenced here about 1830. Shippen, Black, 
Hamilton, Humes, and Judge Myers were the pioneers. 

" At one time twenty-seven or twenty-eight furnaces were in full opera- 
tion, making nearly if not entirely forty thousand tons of iron each year. 
It was then called the iron county. These furnaces were all run with charcoal, 
and made a superior quality of metal : but all have ceased operations and 
many have disappeared, so that no vestige of them remains except large piles 
of cinders that centuries will hardly obliterate. 

" We find traces of the example of the Indian in the first white men. 
The first settlers above Titusville, on Oil Creek, in 1809, took their bags of 

484 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

grain on their backs, walked to Erie, fifty-three miles, to the mill, and brought 
home their flour in the same way. The lumbermen at Warren and on the 
Brokenstraw, as related in the address of Judge Johnson to the old settlers 
of Warren County, rafted their lumber to New Orleans, and walked home." 

The pioneer post-office was in 1818, at the house of James McGonagle, 
two miles east of Strattonville. This was a horseback route ; Josiah Cope- 
ley, carrier. The route was from Indiana once a week via Greensburg, 
Freeport, Roseburg, Lawrenceburg (Parker), to Butler; thence back via 
Kittanning to Indiana. There were mail routes through, but no post-office 
in the county before this one. In 1830 venison hams sold for one and a 
half cents a pound. 

The pioneer grist-mill was built in 1803, on Catfish Run, by Jonathan 
Mortimer. The pioneer road was the old State Road. (See chapter on that 
subject, page 181.) It crossed the Clarion in Mill Creek Township. Robert 
Henry, John Allison, and Thomas Guthrie were the contractors for the Clarion 
portion of the road. 

On February 23, 1829, the pioneer steamboat ascended the Allegheny 
to the mouth of the Clarion. In 1830, steamers began to make regular trips. 




CAMERON COUNTY FORMATION OF COUNTY LOCATION OF COUNTY SEAT 

COURTS OFFICERS TRAILS AND ROADS SETTLERS TRANSPORTATION 

WHISKEY ANIMALS JOHN BROOKS SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES NEWS- 
PAPERS Til E CLAFFLIN GIRLS DESPERADOES STORE — TOW NSH IPS — 

INDIAN ATROCITIES 

Cameron County, named for the Hon. Simon Cameron, was organized 
by act of Assembly, March 29, i860, from parts of Clinton, Elk, McKean, 
and Potter Counties. It contains three hundred and eight-one square miles, 
two hundred and forty-three thousand eight hundred and forty acres, and 
is within the purchase of October 23, 1784, known as the New Purchase. 
Its history is not germane to this book, but I will give some reminiscences 
of the pioneer settlers, being mostly writings of John Brooks and taken 
from the county history. 

The same Indians were here in great numbers that inhabited the north- 
west purchase, and countless thousands of rattle- and other snakes. If the 
man " who eats them alive" had been one of the pioneers, he soon would 
have weighed four hundred pounds. 

The celebrated battle of Peter Groves with the Indians took place at 
the mouth of a creek called Groves Run, just near the first fork of the 
Sinnemahoning. It occurred long before the whites were there. John 
Rohrer was the pioneer surveyor in the county in 1786. Sinnemahoning 
was surveyed in 1805. The pioneer preaching in the county was by a circuit 
rider in 1810. at Sinnemahoning. 

The pioneer settlement was at second fork, now called Driftwood. In 
1804 John Jordan, a mighty hunter, settled there. In 1808, William Nanny 
settled a short distance up the Bennett's branch. The pioneers jocularly 
called him " Billy Nanny." Other settlers located in this vicinity. In 1S10 
John Earl, Sr., was the pioneer to settle on the site of what is now Emporium. 

" The immigrants made their entrances by the Indian paths on foot 
or on horseback, or by canoes or Indian boats propelled against the current 
by setting poles. These boats or canoes were manned by a bowman and a 
steersman, who, by placing their poles with steel-pointed sockets upon the 
bottom of the stream, threw their weight upon the poles thus placed, and 
by frequent and repeated processes and propulsions (guiding the boat at the 
same time) often made fifteen to twenty-five miles a day against the current 

4S6 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

with a cargo of three-quarters to one ton weight in their boats. On some 
occasions, in case of low water in the streams, the boat's crew would be com- 
pelled to remove the gravel and fragments of rock from the line of their 
course, and wade for miles at a time, carrying and dragging their boats 
forward by thejr almost superhuman strength ; such frequent exercises 
developed an unusually vigorous muscle, and it would seem fabulous to 
relate the extraordinary feats frequently performed by these athletics of 
pioneer life." 

" The early settlers were a hardy, active, energetic, go-a-head class of 
people, hailing mostly from eastern and middle Pennsylvania, from the State 
of New Jersey, and from the New England States. As a class they were 
rude, yet honest in their dealings ; though boorish, they were hospitable 
and generous. The first settlers in America brought with them the traditions 
of Europe, and the fearful condemnations for witchcraft began at Salem, 
in 1692. Three children of Rev. Dr. Parris complained of being tortured 
by witches. The excitement soon spread, and others, both adults and chil- 
dren, complained of being bewitched, and accused those against whom they 
held some pique. Rev. Cotton Mather, Rev. Mr. Noyes, of Salem, the 
president of Harvard College, and many others encouraged arrests, as the 
result of which twenty persons, suspected of witchcraft, were executed in 
one year, while many others were banished. Some of the pioneers of this 
county, in order to protect themselves from witchery, would burn hen's 
feathers, and assafcetida, for incense, and shoot silver slugs at rudely drawn 
portraits of those who were suspected of witchcraft. A kind of lunacy also 
prevailed to some extent; potatoes and other vegetables were planted in the 
moon, or rather when the horns of the moon indicated the proper time. 
Houses were roofed when the horns of the moon were down, so that the 
shingles would not cap and draw the nails ; fences were laid when the horns 
of the moon were up, that the rails might not sink into the ground, and the 
medicinal wants of these primitive people were not administered to in any 
degree in accordance with the practice of more modern times." 

" The early settlers were for a long time compelled to bring all their 
supplies from Big Island in canoes. Lock Haven did not then exist. Three 
men named Moran, Hugh Penny, and McKnight kept store at ' Big Island,' 
who used to furnish the settlers with their supplies and take their timber- 
rafts as pay. The nearest store in 1820 was six miles above Clearfield town, 
and kept by John Irvin. Notwithstanding, the store at Big Island, though 
more remote, was for most purposes most convenient to trade with. Being 
along the river, it could be reached with the canoes, and besides, for the 
same reason, it was easier to convey the timber in exchange." 

" A considerable amount of whiskey was consumed, and a canoe was 
not considered properly laden unless at least one barrel of the stimulant 
was among the stores. The trip up was generally made lively by its cheering 

487 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

influence. The article was then, as now, potent in its influence over the 
hearts of men. He who had a bottle of whiskey in his hands and a barrel 
in his canoe possessed the open sesame to every heart and every house. They 
were also compelled to convey their grain in the same manner down the 
river to Linden, near Williamsport, to be ground, and then pole it back 
again to their residences, nearly one hundred miles. Some used hand-mills 
for their corn, and in time small grist-mills were established at various 
places in the county. The first grist-mill erected within the limits of the 
county was located near the mouth of Clear Creek, about 1811. It had 
no bolt attached to it. The same year Colonel Chadwick built his saw- and 
grist-mill at the mouth of North Creek. This had a good bolt attached, 
and is said to have made good flour/' 

" Early in the ' thirties' William Lewis, of Shippen, tracked a wolf 
to his rocky den, and then called on Ben. Freeman to assist in the capture. 
The latter was left at the mouth of the cave to shoot the animal, while 
Lewis entered to hunt him out. After a long creep through the darkness, 
Lewis saw the glaring eyes of the animal, but on went the hunter, until the 
scared wolf jumped past him, only to be shot by Freeman. Lewis, proceed- 
ing farther, caught two whelps, and carried them home." 

" In 1832, when the salt-works were running on Portage Creek, a 
strong lumberman named Magee went to the deer lick, a mile from the 
works, to watch for deer. Looking from his blind in the early evening, 
he saw two gleaming eyes among the lower branches of a tree not far away. 
Thinking it was a wild cat, he took a steady aim, fired, and in an instant 
he saw the body of a huge panther fall to earth. Without halting, he 
fled to the w'orks. Returning with help next morning, the men found the 
panther dead, the largest ever known in this section of Pennsylvania. . . . 
George Parker, who resides three miles above Sizer's Springs, killed three 
thousand deer, three hundred elks, ten panthers, one hundred and fifty 
black bears, and other game, with a gun which he purchased in 1839. This 
was exclusive of his heavy hunting here in earlier years." He is now dead. 

John Brooks, speaking of pioneers, says, — 

" Occupying, as they did, the remote outskirts of civilization, they 
were subjected to many privations incident to this rugged section of country. 
Several of these early immigrants had done efficient service in the Revolu- 
tionary War and in the war of 1812. Almost all of the vocations of the 
industrial classes were represented, and all could aid in the work of extem- 
porizing" a cabin for the accommodation of the recent immigrant. Among 
these early pioneers there were but few who professed Christianity, prac- 
ticallv ; most of them, however, held some theory of religion, mostly Baptist 
or Presbyterian in their views. Profanity was the common spice of con- 
versation, and God was, if ' not in all their thoughts.' in all their mouths, and 
invoked in execrations and imprecations more frequently than by benedictions. 

488 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

The use of whiskey was general ; used by clergymen and at funerals, and upon 
all occasions; some more recent immigrants kept no cow, but always kept 
whiskey in their houses, alleging that a barrel of whiskey was of more value 
in a family than a cow."' 

Some of the descendants of the early settlers yet have a remarkable 
prescience, and they prognosticate seasons and storms with great assurance. 
Their prevision enables them to anticipate all the changes of the weather, 
and they are remarkable for their generosity, essaying upon every opportunity 
to gratuitously advise all who may hear their converse of the future approach- 
ing vicissitudes, and mutations, that so much concern the lunatics. Some 
consult the milt or spleen of the hog, that organ situate in the left hypochon- 
drium, and which was supposed by the ancients to be the seat of anger 
and melancholy ; and from this organ they augur the severity of the 
approaching winter. Some would quench their fires to prevent the generation 
of salamanders. The shrunken sinews in the shoulder of a horse were 
cured by placing some of the hair in auger-holes, in some peculiar places, 
at some pecular lunation. Incised wounds also were more readily healed by 
anointing the instrument that made the wound. Blood was stayed, pain 
mitigated, and bots in horses cured by pow-wowing or reciting some cabal- 
istic phrase. 

J. J. Chadwick, in his sketch of the Methodist Church, states: "About 
1806 Joseph Ellicott opened a road from Dunstown, opposite Big Island, 
on the Susquehanna, to Ellicottville, New York. Along its course, through 
the valley of the Sinnemahoning, twenty or thirty families settled previous 
to the general survey of the region, and, as hunting was the general amuse- 
ment, every adult male had a rifle and every family a supply of hounds." 

John Brooks was the pioneer historian in the county. The pioneer 
school was taught in the summer of 1817 by Miss Eliza Dodge, in a barn 
at the mouth of North Creek. The pioneer physician to practise within the 
county was Dr. Kincaid, father of the great Baptist missionary in India, 
Eugenio Kincaid. An amusing incident occurred in the doctor's practice, — 
viz. : He was treating a patient at the old Dent place on Bennett's Branch. 
Leaving his pill-bags near the creek while he went into the house, a cow 
ate the pill-bags and all their contents, and when the doctor returned for 
them, the cow was quietly chewing her cud. I suppose the patient recovered. 
I don't know about the cow. 

Some time about 1830 " Buck" Clafflin settled at Sinnemahoning and 
started a store. It was here that Victoria (Mrs. Woodhull) and Tennie C. 
Clafflin were born, and ran barefoot until from three to five years old. The 
Shafer house was erected on the ClafHins' old home. 

The pioneer election of county officers was held October 11, i860. The 
pioneer sessions of court had to be held in a frame school-house. The 
Philadelphia Land Company had, however, already become alive to the 

489 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

advantages of the situation, and this corporation donated five thousand 
dollars toward a court-house, on condition that it should be located on lands 
owned by them, about a quarter of a mile west of the rising village. The 
situation suggested was eminently desirable, being a sightly knoll ; and, as 
individual enterprise furnished the remainder of the necessary funds, the 
pioneer court-house required no levy of taxes. In December, i860, a news- 
paper, called The Citizen, opened a journalistic career, although there was 
at the time only twenty-seven buildings and not more than one hundred and 
ten inhabitants in the village, which was incorporated as a borough in 1864. 
Previous to incorporation it was known as Shippen, being a part of Shippen 
Township. But a century previous, a shrewd reasoner, that cities are the 
result of geographical situation, had cut the name " Emporium" on the bark 
of a tree when its site was naught but a savage wilderness, and this name 
was put in the act of incorporation as a borough, with the confident expec- 
tation that the conceptive possibility would swiftly crystalize. 

In 1900 I. H. Musser wrote the following data of Cameron County: 

" FIRST SETTLEMENTS 

" Before the advent of the white man the Indians had a town on the 
Sinnemahoning just east of the First Fork, and in historical times it was 
called ' The Lodge.' Many relics have been discovered on the site of it. 
This is probably the only place within the present limits of the county for 
which there is undisputed evidence of an Indian town. 

''The first settlement by a white man was on the site of Driftwood, then 
called the Second Fork, as the site of the village of Sinnemahoning was 
called the First Fork. This was in 1804, and the settler was John Jordan, 
who, with his family of wife and five sons, made the wilderness his home, 
built his cabin, and began a clearing. But if the country was a wilderness 
in every sense of our modern acceptation of the term, it was a paradise in 
one respect, and that was in its home for game. The deer, the elk, the 
bear, the panther, the wolf, not to speak of smaller game, the delight of 
the present huntsman, such as pheasants, quails, squirrels, etc., made the 
mountains and the well-watered bottoms their home and roamed almost 
unmolested through the dense forests of pine, hemlock, oak, and other woods. 
The streams were alive with the gamiest of trout, salmon, pike, and the 
other members of the finny tribe that have always appealed the strongest to 
the sportsman. And last, but by no means the least dangerous, was the 
rattlesnake, which even to this day does not hesitate to continue the losing 
contest for the. maintenance of its ancient rights with the aggressive human 
member of the animal kingdom. Jordan was a hunter, and this perhaps 
more than anything else influenced him in the selection of his new home. 
He was at the time about forty years of age, and in the prime of life. He 
is said to have killed ninety-six elks, besides any amount of other game. 

490 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" In 1806 Levi Hicks, Andrew Overturf, and Samuel Smith settled on 
lands between the First and the Second Forks, Hicks occupying what in 
recent time is known as the Shaeffer farm. Smith was a single man. The 
same year was opened the public highway, leading from Dunnstown, nearly 
opposite the present Lock Haven, up the river to Cook's Run, thence across 
the mountains to Driftwood, and from thence northward to Ellicottville, New 
York, where the Holland Land Company had an extensive scope of territory. 
This company was instrumental in no small degree in having the road 
laid out. In 181 1 the pioneer grist-mill in the county was built at the 
mouth of Clear Creek. In 1812 Hicks sold out to Jacob Burge, who had 
come to the vicinity a year or two previous, and moved up the Bennett's 
Branch. He (Hicks) made the first raft and floated it down the Sinnema- 
honing, and was thus the pioneer in an occupation that was the chief industry 
along that stream for many years. 

" GAME 

" As stated before, game was plenty, and formed a most important article 
for the table. The woods were full of game of all kinds, and the hunter 
had every opportunity to indulge in the sport, dangerous though it may have 
been sometimes. 

" DESPERADOES 

" It is not to be supposed that a section of country as wild as the West 
Branch was a hundred years ago would not furnish at least some desperate 
characters. Of such were Lewis and Connely who for a number of years 
infested what is now Centre, Clinton, and Cameron Counties. They com- 
mitted so many deeds of outlawry, and the local officers seemed so far 
unable to deal with them, that the state offered a reward of six hundred 
dollars for their apprehension, dead or alive. Having done considerable 
robbing in the vicinity of what is now Lock Haven, they escaped to the 
Sinnemahoning country and, continuing their lawlessness, were finally sur- 
rounded at a house on Bennett's Branch, where both were wounded, Connely 
mortally, dying in a short time, and Lewis, being captured and taken to the 
Belief onte jail, died soon after. 

" The pioneer store was opened in 1829 or 1830, at Sinnemahoning, by 
Buckman Clafflin. Here Mrs. Victoria Woodhull and Tennessee Clafflin 
were born. 

" The Cameron Citizen was the first to enter the journalistic arena in 
the county. It had been founded at Smethport by F. A. Allen in 1853. 
Allen sold it to Lucius Rogers in 1858, who moved the plant to Emporium 
on the formation of the new county, and on December 28, i860, the first 
number was issued. William R. Rogers was a member of the firm at Em- 
porium. The next year Lucius Rogers received an appointment to recruit 

49i 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

.i company for the war, and, leaving for the field, the Citiscn was discon- 
tinued in the latter part of August, [86i> 

" Hie Cameron County Press was founded in [866 through the efforts of 
a number of Emporium gentlemen who wanted a Republican paper, and 
who purchased the material of the defunct Citisen, The) then sent for 
Mr. C. B. Gould, who at that time was a resident of Binghamton, New York, 
Mi. Gould came, and after meeting with much discouragement, not the 
least oi which was the condition of the printing material, issued the first 
number of the Press, March 8, [866, and thus began a career in the comity 
that was distinguished for honor and integrity not less than for success in 
the editorial field. The paper was a small affair at first, hut, with increasing 
prosperity, it was enlarged until at present it is an eight-page, forty-eight 
column paper. In 1877 the office was burned with all its contents, and with- 
out any insurance, hut Mr. Gould began anew, and success again crowned 
his efforts, On May 25, 1807. Mr, Gould died, and he was succeeded by 
Mr. II. II. Miilliu, his SOn-h) law, as editor and publisher. Mr. Mullin has 
been connected with the office for thirty-two years, and prior to Mr. Gould's 
death had for some years been the de facto editor. 

" DRAINAGE 

No county in the State has a better drainage system than Cameron, 
Except the extreme northwest, the entire county is drained by the Sinnema- 
honing and its tributaries, and this stream tlows into the West Branch of 
the Susquehanna at Keating Station, in Clinton County, not more than seven 
or eight miles from the Cameron County line. The divide between the Sus- 
quehanna and the Allegheny River systems crosses the northwest corner of 
the county, barely a mile from the boundary, but within that area rises a 
small stream that mingles its waters with the streams of the Mississippi 
system. The main stream of the Sinnemahoning rises in Potter County, 
within perhaps a mile of the Allegheny River, and. flowing almost due 
south, is joined by the Driftwood Branch at the village of Sinnemahoning, 
and thence tlows southeastward, leaving the county near Grove Station. It 
receives within the county, after its juncture with the Driftwood, Wyckoff 
and Upper Jerry Runs. 

" AREA 

" The area of the county is three hundred and eighty-one miles, or 
two hundred and forty-three thousand eight hundred and forty acres. It is 
therefore one of the smaller counties of the State, there being but nine less 
in si. e 

" cot tTICAI tnvtstoNS 
" Cameron County contains five townships — Shippen. Portage. 1. umber. 
Gibson, and Grove — and two boroughs. — Emporium and Driftwood. The 

49a 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

villages of more or less importance are Sinnemahoning, Sterling Run, 
Cameron, and Sizerville. 

" There is but one recorded conflict that took place on the Sinnema- 
honing during the period of the Revolutionary War. Farther down the 
West Branch numerous actions took place that in almost every case could 
he designated by no other name than massacres, for whether it was the 
Indian or the white man, each fought only from ambush and tried to exter- 
minate the ambushed party. Perhaps the most important event of the war 
was what was called 'The Great Runaway.' This was in 1778, immediately 
after the Wyoming massacre, when, the news reaching the people along the 
West Branch, they hastened down the river to Fort Augusta, leaving their 
fields and crops to the savage. A few ventured to return shortly after to 
gather their crops, and a number were killed by the Indians, among the 
rest James Brady, whose son Captain Sam Brady amply avenged his death 
and became the hero of perhaps more exploits than any other border-man 
of his time. 

" In 1780 occurred the affair on the Sinnemahoning. The Indians had 
made an incursion into Buffalo Valley, Union County, and had committed 
depredations as far as Penn's Creek, fully twelve miles back from the river. 
The Groves, noted Indian fighters, lived a few miles east of the present 
Mifffinburg, where their descendants are still to be found. The elder Grove 
was killed, but by whom or in what way was not known until a pretended 
friendly Indian, while drunk, revealed the manner to Peter Grove, a son of 
the murdered man, by imitating the elder Grove undergoing tortures inflicted 
by the ' friendly' and his companions. Peter wisely said nothing, nor did 
he by his countenance reveal any idea of revenge, nor of horror at the recital 
of the revolting crime, but he immediately after headed a scouting party 
in pursuit, and at Grove's Run in the present village of Sinnemahoning 
they attacked the party of twenty-five or thirty Indians while they were 
asleep and killed a number of them, but as there were only five or six in 
Grove's party, the Indians rallied and drove them off, without, however, 
any injury being sustained by Grove and his friends. Five or six Indians 
were killed in this engagement. On their return the whites waded the 
creek for a considerable distance to avoid pursuit." 




CHAPTER XXIX 



ELK COUNTY — FORMATION OF COUNTY LOCATION OF COUNTY SEAT PIONEER 

ROADS, SETTLERS, COURTS, OFFICERS, LAWYERS, CHURCHES, AND SCHOOLS 

JUDGE GILLIS REV. JONATHAN NICHOLS MILLS — TANNERY BOATS AND 

RAFTING ANIMALS AND HUNTERS STAGING PIONEER COAL-MINING 

THE TOWNSHIP OF RIDGWAY 

Ridgway Township was originally formed as a part of Jefferson County 
in 1826, and remained there until 1843, when it was taken from that county, 
by the following act of Assembly, to create the county of Elk : 



" AN ACT ERECTING PARTS OF JEFFERSON, CLEARFIELD, AND M'KEAN COUNTIES 
INTO A SEPARATE COUNTY, TO BE CALLED ELK. 

" Section I. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is 
hereby enacted by the authority of the same : 

" That all those parts of the counties of Jefferson, Clearfield, and Mc- 
Kean, lying between the following boundaries, — viz., beginning at the north- 
east corner of Jefferson County, thence due east about nine miles to the 
northeast corner of lot number two thousand three hundred and twenty- 
eight, thence due south to Clearfield County, thence east along said line to 
the east line of Gibson Township, and thence south so far that a westwardly 
line to the mouth of Mead's Run shall pass within not less than fifteen miles 
of the town of Clearfield, and thence westwardly to Little Toby's Creek, 
along said line to the mouth of Mead's Run, thence in a northwesterly 
direction to where the west line of Ridgway Township crosses the Clarion 
River, thence so far in the same direction to a point from whence a due 
north line will strike the southwest corner of McKean County, thence along 
said line to the southwest corner of McKean County, and thence east along 
the south line of. McKean County to the place of beginning, be and the same 
is hereby erected into a separate county to be henceforth called Elk. 

" Section II. That Timothy Ives, Junior, of Potter County, James W. 
Guthrie, of Clarion County, and Zachariah H. Eddy, of Warren County, are 
hereby appointed commissioners, who, or any two of whom, shall ascertain 
and plainly mark the boundary lines of said county of Elk; and it shall be 
the duty of the said commissioners to receive proposals, make purchase, or 
accept donation land in the eligible situations for a seat of justice in the 

494 




CO 
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Ni 

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o 

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Cn 

(D 
Pi 
Gi 
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O 



ffj 



lO 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

said county of Elk, by grant, bargain, or otherwise, all such assurances for 
payment of money and grants of land that may be offered to them, or their 
survivors, in trust for the use and benefit of the said county of Elk; and 
to lay out, sell, and convey such part thereof, either in town lots or otherwise, 
as to them, or a majority of them, shall appear advantageous and proper, 
and to apply the proceeds thereof in aid of the county. 

" Provided, that before the commissioners aforesaid shall proceed to 
perform the duties enjoined on them by this act, they shall take an oath 
or affirmation before some judge or justice of the peace, well and truly and 
with fidelity to perform said duties according to the true intent and meaning 
of this act ; 

" Provided also, that as soon as the county commissioners are elected and 
qualified, the duties enjoined on the said commissioners shall cease and 
determine, and shall be performed by the county commissioners so chosen 
and elected. 

" Section X. That it shall be lawful for the commissioners of the 
county of Elk, who shall be elected at the annual election in one thousand 
eight hundred and forty-three, to take assurances to them and their suc- 
cessors in office of such lot or lots, or piece of ground as shall have been 
approved of by the trustees appointed as aforesaid, or a majority of them, 
for the purpose of erecting thereon a court-house, jail, and offices for the 
safe-keeping of the records. 

" Section XI. That the judges of the Supreme Court shall have like 
powers, jurisdictions, and authorities within the said county of Elk, as by 
law they are vested with, and entitled to have and exercise in other counties 
of this State ; and said county is hereby annexed to the western district of 
the Supreme Court. 

" Section XII. The county of Elk shall be annexed to, and compose 
part of, the eighteenth judicial district of this Commonwealth; and the 
courts in the said county of Elk shall be held on the third Monday of Feb- 
ruary, May, September, and December in each and every year, and continue 
one week at each term, if necessary. 

" Approved the 18th day of April, one thousand eight hundred and 
forty-three." 

The pioneer court held in the county was at Caledonia, twenty miles 
east of Ridgway, on the Milesburg and Smethport turnpike, in Jay Township. 
The judges present were: Associates, James L. Gillis and Isaac Horton ; 
Prothonotary, etc., W. J. B. Andrews; Commissioners, Reuben Winslow, 
Chauncey Brockway, and John Brooks. But little business was transacted. 
Attorneys present: George R. Barrett, Ben. R. Petriken, and Lewis B. Smith. 
The first court held in Ridgway was in the school-house. February 19, 1844, 
Alexander McCalmont, president judge; Isaac Horton, associate judge: and 
Eusebius Kincaid, sheriff. 

32 497 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

The pioneer court crier was Nathaniel Hyatt, from Kersey. Colonel 
Corbet, who clerked for Gillis in 1845, informs me that the court-house 
was built in the summer of that year. The contractors were General Levi 
G. Clover and Edward H. Derby. The supplies for the men were furnished 
through the store of James L. Gillis. S. M. Burson was the first lawyer 
to locate in Ridgway. In 1854 the court crier was M. L. Ross. On public 
occasions he wore a blue broadcloth swallow-tailed coat, with brass buttons 
in front. " This coat had pocket-holes behind for thirty years or more." The 
commissioners were E. C. Schultze, C. F. Luce, L. Luther. 

The following lawyers, afterwards distinguished, then attended the 
courts: Brown, Curtis, and Johnson, of Warren; Barrett, Wallace, McCul- 
lough, and Larimer, of Clearfield; I. G. Gordon, W. P. Jenks, McCahon, 
and Lucas, of Jefferson ; and Goodrich and Eldred, of McKean. 

The pioneer settler was " a pioneer hunter named General Wade and 
family, with a friend named Slade, who came to the head-waters of the Little 
Toby in 1798, and settled temporarily. In 1803 the party returned east, but 
the same year came hither and built a log house at the mouth of the Little 
Toby on the east bank. In 1806, while Wade and Slade were hunting near 
what is now Blue Rock, they saw an Indian girl watching them. Approach- 
ing her, Wade enticed her to follow him to his home, and there introduced 
her to Mrs. Wade. In 1809 this Indian girl married Slade, Chief Tamisqua 
performing the ceremony. Slade removed with his wife to where Portland 
now is and established a trading house there." 

But Amos Davis was the real pioneer settler in 1810. 

Of the early settlers, Dr. A. M. Clarke wrote as follows : 

" About the time of the ' late war' with England, in 1812, some venture- 
some men pushed their way up the Susquehanna River and up the Sinne- 
mahoning Creek to the mouth of Trout Run on Bennett's Branch, at which 
place Leonard Morey located and built a saw-mill. Dwight Caldwell, John 
Mix, and Eben Stephens came at the same time. These were the first settlers 
on Bennett's Branch. About the same time a large tract of country, contain- 
ing some one hundred and forty thousand acres, which had been surveyed on 
warrants issued in the name of James Wilson, had come into the possession 
of Fox, Norris & Co., Quakers, of Philadelphia, who sent William Kersey as 
agent to construct a road into their lands and build a mill. The road started 
from a point on an old State road leading to Waterford, Pennsylvania, about 
eight miles west of the Susquehanna River, passed through the woods over 
Boon's Mountain, crossed Little Toby's Creek, without a bridge, where 
Hellen Mills now stand, followed up the creek seven miles to the point of 
Hogback Hill, up which it went, though steep and difficult, continued over 
the high and undulating grounds to the spot which had been selected for a 
mill site on a stream which was afterwards called Elk Creek, where the 
mill was built, about two miles from the present Centreville. Jacob Wilson 

498 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

was the miller who for many years attended this mill. Often the old man 
had to go a mile and a half from his own house to the mill to grind a small 
grist of a bushel, brought on horseback ; but his patience was quite equal t< i 
the emergency, and he did it without complaining. 

" A few settlers came into the county about the time the Kersey Mill 
was built ; of these I may mention Elijah Meredith, James Green, Josiah 
Taylor, J. R. Hancock, David Reesman, John Kyler, and John Shafer, with 
their families; these constituted the Kersey settlement." 

One of the pioneers of Ridgway Township was James L. Gillis. In 
June, 1820, he left his home in Ontario County, New York, to look over the 
land, and in December, 1820, he moved his family into the wilderness. They 
came in sleds, and it required two days ; they had to camp out over night. 
Gillis was an agent for Ridgway, and was furnished ample means for all 
expenses. He cleared five hundred acres of land, erected a large frame 
house, and built a grist-mill and a carding-machine. Reuben A. Aylesworth 
and Enos Gillis came with his family. 

James L. Gillis was a man of State celebrity. He was absent nearly all 
the time, lobbying at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, or at Washington. 

In 1826 William Morgan, of Batavia, New York, was abducted from 
his home at night and never heard of afterwards. Morgan had been a Mason, 
and published the alleged secrets of the Masonic Fraternity. The Masons 
were charged with abducting and murdering him. Mystery surrounds his 
disappearance to this day. Intense excitement prevailed all over the nation. 

Mr. Gillis was a Mason, and was arrested at Montmorenci and carried 
to New York State, and there tried for the abduction and murder of Morgan. 
In the trial he was cleared. 

Mr. Gillis was a cavalry soldier in the war of 1812, and took part in 
several severe engagements. He was taken prisoner by the British and 
suffered severely. He was a model man physically, and by nature endowed 
with much intelligence. This, added to his extensive travels and political 
experience, gave him a prominence in the State and nation that few men 
possessed. Gillis was the Patriarch in Ridgway Township. He migrated in 
1821 to what he named Montmorenci, Pine Creek Township, then in Jefferson 
County. He brought his children and brother-in-law with him. 

For five years he was monarch of all he surveyed, and without 
any post-office nearer than fifty miles of him. He came to Port Barnett, 
near Brookville. to vote, was liable to and for militia service, and for 
all legal business had to go to Indiana, Pennsylvania, a distance of ninety 
miles. 

While at Montmorenci in 1826 Mr. Gillis was instrumental in securing 
a mail-route from Kittanning to Olean, New York. This gave him mail 
service once in two weeks. He was a great horseman and a horseback 
rider. 

501 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Gillis was related to Jacob Ridgway, one of the richest men in the State, 
and he was agent for all his land in Jefferson County. Gillis was slow and 
methodical in his habits, was fond of games, — viz., chess, backgammon, 
checkers, and euchre. He carried a snuff-box that held about a pint of the 
choicest snuff, in which was buried a Tonka bean, that imparted to the snuff 
a delightful aroma. He walked with a gold-headed cane and in winter he 
wore a panther-skin overcoat. Physically he was a large man and was social 
and agreeable. In 1830 he moved to where Ridgway now is. He was elected 
to several offices, including Congress. He moved to Mount Pleasant, Iowa, 
where he died in 1881, aged eighty-nine years.* 

" Sleep soldier, though many regret thee, 
Who pass by thy cold bier to-day ; 
Soon, soon shall the kindest forget thee, 
And thy name from the earth pass away. 
The man thou didst love as a brother 
A friend in thy place will have gained, 
And thy dog shall keep watch for another 
And thy steed by a stranger be reined." 

Ridgway, the county seat, was laid out in 1833. It was called for Jacob 
Ridgway. 

Jacob Ridgway, who died in 1843, I> as been regarded as the wealthiest 
man in Pennsylvania since Stephen Girard. His property is valued at about 
six million dollars, and is of various kinds ; all of which is the result of a 
long life of untiring industry and perseverance. In early life he was a ship- 
carpenter. He subsequently was appointed United States Consul at Antwerp, 
where he resided during a portion of the great war of the European powers, 
and when the rights of American citizens stood in need of protection from the 
blind encroachments of angry belligerents. After residing a short time in 
Paris, he returned to the United States, where he continued engaged in laud- 
able and useful enterprises to the day of his death. His real property is very 
extensive, lying in various parts of the Union, but principally in Pennsylvania, 
New Jersey, and Delaware. His heirs are a son and two daughters, Mrs. 
Dr. Rush and Mrs. Roatch. The latter is a widow. Mr. Ridgway is repre- 
sented as an amiable, kind-hearted man, kind to his workmen, indulgent to 
his tenants, and liberal toward his friends and the distressed. 

In 1840 the principal part of Elk County was covered with white pine 
and hemlock. Pine-lands could be bought for from three to five dollars an 
acre. Hemlock had no value only for farm lands. The bark even was not 
used for tanning. Pine was about the only timber manufactured. 

The streams- were alive with pike, sunfish, bass, chubs, magnificent trout, 
and other fish. Every fall and spring hunters with dogs and fishermen from 



* A more extended account of James L. Gillis, taken from the Pittsburg Daily 
Post of July 30, 1881, will be found in the Appendix, page 718. 

502 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

the adjoining counties and from across the line in New York State would 
flock to these hills, valleys, and streams for recreation or profit. The principal 
owners of all this wild land lived in Philadelphia, — viz., Ridgway estate, 
Jones estate, Parker estate, and Fox and Norris estate. 

Big trout eat little trout and the eggs or fry of other trout. A trout 
will not spawn until it is six inches long. Some trout never grow longer than 
seven inches, maturing and attaining their full size in about eighteen months, 
while others continue to grow for three years, and will attain from twelve to 
eighteen inches in length. 

One of the pioneer roads was the State road from Kittanning to Olean. 
There was great excitement and enthusiasm by the land-owners and settlers 
over this State road. But it all came to naught, for the road has never 
been used to any extent. It is still known as the Olean road where it is not 
grown up and abandoned. 

The Ceres road was laid out in 1825 and finished in 1828. The Miles- 
burg and Smethport Turnpike Company was incorporated in 1825, and the 
road was finished about 1830. 

Caleb Dill was the " post-boy" in 1828. 

The pioneer tannery was started in 1830. Enos Gillis, owner; James 
Gallagher, tanner. 

Dr. A. M. Clarke writes us of his advent in Elk County in 1818: 

" When in Russell, St. Lawrence County, New York, I attended a term 
in the village school, two miles from our home. How much I was benefited 
by it I know not — I cannot remember that I learned anything. Shortly after- 
wards my father disposed of his property there, in Russell, New York, and 
we came to Pennsylvania. The journey was long and tedious, about six 
weeks. We moved with oxen and wagon ; a canvas cover over the wagon 
gave us shelter from sunshine and storm. I was eleven years old, being the 
oldest of the children ; there were three of us. I had sometimes to drive 
the team while father supported the wagon to keep us from upsetting. When 
we got through at last into the wilderness of Pennsylvania our people were 
much disappointed. In Pennsylvania we came on an old road, the old State 
Road. The Susquehanna and Waterford turnpike was being built at that 
time. When we arrived at Neeper's tavern, about four miles east of where 
Luthersburg now is, we took the Fox, Norris & Co. road over the mountain, 
which was really a path, and followed our journey over the hills and moun- 
tains. Finding we could not get through in a day, we had to stop over night 
at a place where the road-makers of Fox, Norris & Co. had built a shanty 
which had been burned, so it was called the ' burnt shanty.' Here our wagon- 
cover gave us a good shelter, and a good spring of water to drink from was 
pleasant, indeed. The next day we crossed over Boone's Mountain, came 
to the crossing of Little Toby near where was built, many years afterwards, 
the ' Oyster House.' We pursued our journey onward to Kersey settlement, 

503 



HISTORY OF NOKTUW ESTKKN PENNSYLVANIA 



when my father thought host lo examine the land, for which he had ex- 
changed his New York property, before going any further, lie was utterly 

disappointed and disgusted with these lands, so that he made explorations in 
various directions in search of a mill site, and finally located and erected a 
round log cabin, with greased paper for windows, where Brockport now is. 
Here he built, in 1821, a saw-mill, the first ever built on this stream. He 
put a small grist-mill with bolts into the saw-mill, which mill answered the 









mm m 

K " I i « ■ •■ " 



J 




Taking out :\ timber stick 

requirements of the neighborhood for a time. He then built a good grist- 
mill, which did good work for the people until the great flood in 1844 carried 
it off. My father died in Rrockwayville. January. 1852. 

"Isaac Horton. since Judge llorton, llezekiah and Zebulon Warner, 
ami Alanson Yiall began improvement on Brandy camp in 18 jo. Chauncey 
Brockway, Sr.. moved there in r.821. In i8jj Dr. Jonathan Nichols came 
there to make his home. He was for a long time the only minister who had 
regular services every Sabbath." 

In 1840 labor was cheap. Pine boards of the finest quality sold in Louis- 
ville. Kentucky, at seven and nine dollars per thousand. If the operator 
cleared twenty-five or titty cents on a thousand feet he was thankful. 

All goods and groceries were dear ; they had to be hauled from Olean, 
New York, or Waterson's Ferry on the Allegheny River. Money was scarce, 
the people social and kind. Whiskey and New England rum was three cents 
a drink. 

504 




Nelson Gardner and Mary, his wife, pioneers of Elk County. Nelson Gardner was 
a mighty hunter, and killed the last panther in Elk County 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

The pioneer and early teamsters from St. Mary's to those points were 
John Walker, Charles Fisher, and Joseph Wilhelm. The merchandise carried 
from Pittsburg to this region was by canal to Freeport, by keel-boat and 
steamboat to Kittanning and Waterson's Ferry. The teamsters loaded their 
wagons with wheat flour, etc., in barrels bound with hickory hoops, bacon 
and salt and whiskey in barrels bound with iron hoops. But, strange to 
say, there was always a soft stave in these whiskey-barrels through which 
a " rye straw" could be made to reach the whiskey for the teamster and his 
friends while en route home. 

EARLY HOME OF THE WILD PIGEON 

In 1845 Ridgway Township was the nesting and roosting home of the 
wild pigeon. There was a roost at or near what is now Bootjack, one near 
Whistletown, and another near Montmorenci. These big roosts were occu- 
pied early in April each year. They were usually four to five miles long and 
from one to two miles wide. Every tree would be occupied, some with fifty 
nests. The croakings of the pigeons could be heard for miles. 

The wild pigeon laid one or two eggs, and both birds did their share 
of incubating, the female from two p.m. until nine a.m., and the male then to 
two p.m. These roosts were great feeding-places for animals as well as for 
man. As late as 1851 the American Express Company carried in one day, 
over the New York and Erie Railroad, over seven tons of pigeons to the 
New York markets. A wild pigeon can fly from five hundred to one thou- 
sand miles in a day. 

Like the buffalo and elk of this region, the wild pigeon has been doomed. 

In 1836 J. S. Hyde reached Ridgway clothed in overalls, and with all his 
possessions tied up in a handkerchief. He entered the store of George Dick- 
inson and wanted to buy an axe on credit ; on being refused credit, he told 
the store-keeper to keep his axe and go to h — 11, that he would see the day 
when he could buy the whole store. He was ambitious and an untiring 
worker. Mr. Hyde had great force and a habit of carrying his hands in front 
of him with the " thumbs up," especially if he was in earnest or excited. 
Whenever his thumbs were up in the presence of any one, there was sure 
to be something happen, — an explosion of Christian indignation. 

Mrs. Penelope Goddard Clarke planted the first nursery in the county, 
at what is now Brockport, and supplied the neighbors with fruit-trees. 

The most noted hunters of Elk County were George Nolf, Erasmus 
Morey, Peter Smith, George Smith, Nelson Gardner, and William Eastman. 

These men were professionals. Chasing the wild deer was their daily 
life and delight. They all possessed in a high degree the agile, cat-like 
step, the keen eye, the cool nerve, and the woodcraft of the " still hunter." 

I knew them well, but was not intimate enough to learn the story of their 
encounters and adventures. The buffaloes that once roamed in great num- 

507 



HISTORY OK NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

bers, the beavers that built their dams, and the stately elks that once traversed 
the forests of Elk are now extinct, and I believe the screaming- panther and 
the prowling wolf can now, too, be so classed. 

In 1853 the county paid for panther- and wolf-scalps two hundred and 
twenty-five dollars and fifty cents. 

Ralph Hill settled at Portland Mills about 1S32. He came from Massa- 
chusetts to the wilds of McKean in 1825. He lived the life of a hermit and 
hunter. Portland becoming too much in civilization, he moved up Spring 
Creek, and lived in Forest County, the companion of wild animals, " where 
his right there was none to dispute." He died at a ripe old age. 

The pioneer justice of the peace was Reuben A. Aylesworth, appointed 
February 18. 1832. 

In the year 1833 there were seven families in what is now Ridgway, — 
viz., Reuben Aylesworth and Caleb Dill west of the river, and Enos Gillis. 
James W. Gallagher, H. Karns, Thomas P>arber, and Toab Dobbins, who was 
the pioneer shoemaker, on the east side. In 1833 Ralph Hill and a man 
named Ransom were living in a shanty at Beech Bottom. 

In 1831) James Watterson, of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, settled 
at the mouth of Spring Creek, and he and Job Paine built a saw-mill. 

About 1840 common hands on the river received one dollar per day ami 
board. Pilots, two and three dollars per day and board. The " head" sawyer 
on the Red Mill received twenty-five dollars per month and board : the assist- 
ant, eighteen dollars per month and board ; and common hands, fifteen dollars 
a month and board. 

The usual religious exercises on Sunday at the Red Mill, in 1842, were 
wrestling, fishing, pitching quoits, shooting at mark, running foot-races, and 
" jumping by the double rule of three." 

In the winter of 1832 L. Wilmarth. Arthur Hughes, and George Dickin- 
son erected the red saw-mill. Ridgway was laid out for a town in 1833. 

" In 1834 the first bridge was put across the Clarion River. This was 
a toll-bridge. It was built of twelve by sixteen inch stringers resting on 
cribbing. Before this time teams forded the river, and in high water boats 
were used. The country was covered by a thick growth of hemlock-trees. 
Game, such as elks, deer, bears, panthers, and wild-cats were found in great 
abundance, fish abounded in the streams," and rattlesnakes anil other reptiles 
were numerous and dangerous. 

Up to 1835 Ridgway Township included all that portion of Snyder 
Township that is now Brockwayville borough, and even west of Sugar Hill, 
as well as a good portion of what is now Washington Township. Ridgway in 
1836 was a small village. At the west end of the town was George Dickin- 
son's boarding-house, then Henry Cross's home, then Dickinson's saw-mill 
and barn, Caleb Dill's home, justice office, and blacksmith-shop, Stephen 
Weis's home and John Cobb's house, Hon. James L. Gillis's home and store, 

508 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

George Dickinson's home and store, and on the east side of the Clarion was 
the Exchange Hotel, owned by David Thayer, then Edward Derby's old red 
house, then the Lone Star Hotel, owned by P. T. Brooks. 

When P. T. Brooks, who was quite a wag, very polite and demonstrative, 
was keeping this hotel in the wilderness, two finely dressed and appearing 
gentlemen rode up one day in front of and stopped at his hotel for dinner. 
Of course, this was an opportunity for Mr. Brooks to be demonstrative and 
polite. After seeing that the horses were properly cared for, Brooks ap- 
proached the gentlemen in this way : " What kind of meat would you gentle- 
men prefer for dinner?" "Why, Mr. Landlord, we would prefer venison." 




Banking logs 

" I am sorry that we are just out of venison." " Oh, well," said the strangers, 
" a little good beef or mutton will do." " Well, well," replied Mr. Brooks, 
" I am sorry to say we are just out of beef and mutton." At this the strangers 
were a little nonplussed, but finally said, " We will be satisfied with fish." 
" Well, well," replied Mr. Brooks, rubbing his hands, " I am sorry to say 
that we are just out of fish, but we have some very excellent pickled pork." 

Uncle Eben Stevens, an old hunter who came to the Sinnemahoning 
region about 1812, told me there was an Indian graveyard at the mouth of 

5" 



HISTORY. Ol' NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Mill Creek, that lie used to go up there and hunt with the Indians, and in the 
spring the) would paint their canoes red with that " iron paint" on the 
Clarion, 

\ml down the Tob\ Creek — 

" Where the rooks were gray and the shores were sleep. 

Where the waters below looked dark and deep. 

Where the shades of the forest were heavy and deep the whole day through," 

Stevens and the Indians in these red canoes would carry their game, skins. 
and furs to the Pittsburg market. 

In 1S54 Elk Count) was one vast wilderness, and was so called on ac- 
count of the great herds of elks that once roamed through those wilds. There 
were no elks killed during my residence, but Grandpap Luther told me that 
in 1S52 a drove of twelve or fifteen was found by two hunters near the village 
of Ridgway, and seven were killed of that drove. Elks are gregarious. 
Where Tort land now is. was a great rendezvous for elks. It was a great 
wintering place for them. All other wild animals were numerous. 

The pioneer effort to erect what is now the county of Elk was on Tues 
day, February 28, lS37, when an act to erect the county of Ridgway was 
reported in the State Senate. 

The present town or borough of St. Mary's was established in 1S4J. 
Father Alexander had the colony in charge then. Early in the summer of 
1S4.J a number of Germans in the cities of Baltimore and Philadelphia asso- 
ciated themselves in a society to form a German settlement on the community 
plan, and appointed John Albert. Nicholas Reimel. and Michael IVileth to 
select the place for settlement. This committee selected Jefferson County. 
Pennsylvania, and the site where the borough of St. Mary's and the adjoining 
settlement now is. For this colony they purchased thirty-five thousand acres 
bather Alexander had the colony in charge then. Early in the summer of 
settlers — one from Philadelphia and one from Baltimore — reached John 
Green's, in Kersey. From Kersey these men. in two instalments, opened a 
path to where St. Mary's now is. and immediately set to work to erect their 
log cabins on St. Marx's Street. In December, 184.2. they moved their fami- 
lies to these cabins, and the county of Elk was organized in 1843. 

PIONEER TRANSPORTATION 

I copy an editorial from an Advocate of lime 10. 1854. giving" a resume" 
of the stage in operation at that time: 

" Staging — As an evidence of the rapid increase of the business of this 
county, and of its general prosperity, it is not necessary to refer to ever) 
branch of business that is conducted here : bin a reference to the single item 
of staging will make it clear to all that we are a rising nation. Two years 
ago there was no mode of communication through these interminable forests 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

except that only true republican way, a ' foot-back,' and wading through the 
mud up to your knees, at least, into the bargain. 

" About that time the pioneer stager of the county, Townsend ball, 
coroner of Elk County, and landlord in McKean Count), commenced running 
a one-horse mud boat from Bellefonte to Smethport. That was considered 
a great enterprise, and every body predicted that ball must get lost in the 
mud, and his hazardous undertaking would certainly be the ruination of that 
visionary man. These predictions would probably have all been verified had 
it not been for the fact that Mr. Fall is one of those live Yankees who is 
always ready to whittle out a wooden nutmeg while waiting for bis horse 
to gain wind when stuck in the mud. 

I le addi'd another branch of trade to bis staging which served to make 
up the losses that caused him, and assisted him in keeping body, soul, horse, 
and mud boat together. Ik' procured a quantity of steel traps suitable for 
bears, wolves, and such animals, which he stationed along at intervals, and 
while waiting for his old horse to browse he could examine them and take care 
of their contents without losing any time. The furs, skins, and scalps he 
dins procured soon enabled him to purchase another horse to put by tin- 
side of the old veteran that had long served hint so faithfully. 

"From that day his prosperity and the prosperity of the stage interests 
of this region has been rapidly onward. I le soon was enabled to get a wagon 
with a top to it ; the first trip was a proud day for Elk County. Now Mr. 
Fall is running a tri-weckly line of splendid four-horse coaches between 
Smethport and Ridgway, for particulars of which see advertisement in this 
paper." 

" NEW ARRANGEMENT. 
"through and hack by daylight! 

"Having taken the contract for carrying die mail from I'.ellc ■funic lo .Smethport, 
the subscriber is happy to announce to the travelling public and the world in general, 
that he is going to 'crack her threw' regularly rain or shine, hot or cold, mud or dust, 
from this time forth, leaving Smethport every Monday morning, arriving at Ridgway 
same evening, passing along so as to reach Bellefonte on Wednesday night. On the 
return trip leaves Bellefonte on Thursday morning, arrives at Ridgway Friday night 
and Smethport Saturday night. 

"8^" Good horses and coaches and sober drivers, will always be kept on Ibis 
route. 

"8§f° Particular attention will be paid to baggage, which will be carried at my 
risk where freight is paid. Also, all kinds of errands promptly attended to, along the 
line. Patronage is respectfully solicited. 

" Townsend Fall. 
" Centreville, July o, 1852. 14-tf" 

I'lOXKKk COAL ol'KKATOKS 

Dr. C. K. luirley lived at Kersey. The year he came to Elk I do not know. 
I le was energetic, kind* and industrious. He had to keep himself busy, and 
33 513 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

for some time he and Jesse Kyler, rival pioneers, were the baron soft coal 
kings of the county. Earley's and Kyler's cards, published in the newspapers 
of that period, are here given : 

" IMPORTANT FROM THE MINES 

" Having recently commenced operations at the new ' placer' in the ' San 
Francisco' coal-mine, the subscriber wishes to inform the public that he is 
prepared to furnish tiiose wishing it an article of coal far superior to any 
ever before offered in Elk County at his mines in Fox Township. He would 
also say that he has a lime-kiln in full blast at the mines aforesaid, and will 
keep constantly on hand a superior article of lime. All of which will be sold 
on reasonable terms. 

" C. R. Earley. 

" San Francisco, Feb. 8. 1851, 48-tf" 

" COAL 

" The subscriber, thankful for the very liberal patronage he has hitherto 
and is still receiving, takes this opportunity to inform his friends and the 
public generally, that he still continues the mining and sale of coal at his old 
establishment, being the centre of the coal basin, and the identical bed recently 
opened in another place. He is unwilling to admit inferiority, nor is he 
bombastic enough to claim superiority, where neither one nor the other can 
possibly exist. In respect to the quality of coal, it is true, by removing the 
dirt from the top of the out crop, coal may be got in larger chunks and will 
seem to burn more free, because the air circulates through it better. But he 
that buys a bushel of coal by measure, mixed coarse and fine togedier, gets 
more for the same money in mining under. However, no section of the 
country has an advantage over another, and but little can be obtained without. 
He will therefore furnish coal as usual in quality and price, and abide the 
judgment of a discerning public. 

" Jesse Kyler. 

"January 10, 1S51. 49-6t." 

The pioneer school taught within the present limits of Elk County was 
at Medix Run, now in Benezette Township, by Master Cephas Morey, in 
the year 1821. The pioneer master in what is now Fox Township was Dr. 
William Hoyt. in 1823. 

The pioneer school in what is now Horton Township was taught by 
Miss Olive Brockway. in 1826; salary, one dollar per week. 

The pioneer school in what is now Jay Township was taught in 1822 by 
Captain Potter Goff. 

The pioneer school in Jones Township in 1842 was taught by Peter 
Hardy. 

514 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

The pioneer school in Millstone Township was started in 1834. 

The pioneer school in what is now Spring Creek Township was taught 
by John Knox. 

In the fall of 1846, or in the spring of 1847, tne fi rst public school was 
opened in Benziger Township. Frederick Clarinaar, master. 

The pioneer school in the village of Ridgway was held in the year 1826. 

" There were three families in the settlement at that time, and the fact 
that they started a school immediately speaks plainly the great value at 
which they held the culture of their children. The building was partitioned 
by suspending bedquilts from the ceilings, which partitions certainly had 
their advantages as well as disadvantages. The memorable teacher who here 
guided the little flock in wisdom's ways was Miss Hannah Gilbert, a sister 
of Mrs. Gallagher. It was a subscription school, and the wages were about 
seventy cents per week. The text-books were very few and often read. The 
ink was of home manufacture, and the pens were calculated to inspire lofty 
thoughts, for they were made of the plucked pinions of the birds of flight. 
The next schools were held also in private dwellings, in what is known as the 
old red house, for instance, and the teachers were Ann Berry, Betsy Gyant, 
and others. The first school-house was built in 1834, immediately on the 
adoption of the common school system, and it was situated on the west side 
of the Clarion River, near Judge Dickinson's residence. It is said that Miss 
Betsy Hyatt was about the first teacher who held pedagogic sway therein. 
The second school building was erected a little prior to 1840, and was located 
also on the west side of the Clarion, not far from the first one. This was a 
large building for a graded school." 

The pioneer physician was Dr. Rogers, in 1809. 

Joseph Smith Hyde was born in the village of Tamworth, Carrol County, 
New Hampshire, August 30, 1813, and died at Ridgway, Elk County, Penn- 
sylvania, June 30, 1888. 

His life presents an illustration of the possibilities of our country. The 
history of his early struggles, his laborious youth, and final success is preg- 
nant with meaning to all young men. At the age of nineteen he was con- 
strained to quit the parental roof and seek a living for himself. He went to 
Bangor, Maine, where he secured work on a saw-mill at a salary of thirteen 
dollars a month. He remained in that vicinity working in mills and in the 
lumber-woods for a period of nearly five years, during a large portion of 
which time his wages were remitted to his father. In the fall of 1836 he 
went to Baltimore, where he remained a year. In 1837 he came for the first 
time to Elk County. He remained a short time at Caledonia and then drifted 
to Ridgway, where he worked at digging on an embankment for Enos Gillis. 
He then secured a contract from Mr. Gillis to run his saw-mill, but this not 
proving profitable, he moved, in 1840, to St. Croix, Wisconsin, where he 
remained for about one year. While there he was taken with a severe illness, 

SIS 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

and, thoroughly disheartened and discouraged, decided to return to Ridg- 
way. where he again went to work in the lumber-woods. His sister Adaline 
at this time came on from New Hampshire and kept house for him in the 
" Red House." Mr. Hyde's stories of his poverty at this time, and the make- 
shifts to which they were at times reduced in order to have both ends meet, 
were both laughable and pathetic, ( )n the 25th day of July. 1842, he married 
Jane, daughter of Enos Gillis. They lived at Montmorency about two years 
and then moved to Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania. He there found some work 
about the foundries, hut not enough to keep him busy, and in 1S46 be re- 




Joseph Smith Mwk- 

turned to Elk County, determined to cast his final lot there. He took up his 
quarters at the Gillis & Mckinley mill. The following year he Knight the 
mill and about four hundred acres of land adjoining, on credit. From this 
date his untiring industry was rewarded, and his indomitable will com- 
manded success. Vie lived there three years, at the end of which time he 
was worth three thousand dollars. He then opened a small store. He also 
bought timber lands as fast as his credit warranted, until he became the 
leading lumberman of the county. At his death he was undoubtedly the 
wealthiest man in Elk County. Mr. Hyde was twice married. 

510 



HISTORY <)J<' NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Joseph Smith Hyde despised dishonesty and idleness, hut loved the 
honest and faithful, however lowly. J le was a man of magnificent physique 
and fine personal appearance, and up to the time of the illness which caused 
his death was wonderfully preserved for his years'. lie was the verv type of 
the courageous, hardworking, tenacious, brainy New Englandcr, and his 
career is a monument to tireless industry and clean-handed business integ- 
rity. I can say all this from a personal acquaintance. When riding as a 
pioneer physician over and through Elk County, I met Mr. llyde every hour 
of the day and night. 

A HUNTER HUNTED 

In 1855—56 Ben McClelland, then a young man, was driving team for 
Sheriff Healey. In the winter he was sent to Warren with two horses and 
a sled. On his way home he expected to stop over night at Highland. Before 
Ben reached " Panther Hollow," a few miles north of Townlcy's, it became 
quite dark. 

At the hollow Ben's horses snorted, frightened, and ran. In the dark- 
Ben quickly recognized the form of a panther after him. The horses had 
the beaten track, the panther the deep snow alongside and afraid to attack 
the heels of the horses on account of the sled, the horses crazy and furious. 

It was a neck-to-neck race for Highland. The panther never gave up 
the race until the cleared land was reached. Ben was a hunter, but he was 
unarmed and almost dead from fright. When Townley's farm was reached 
the horses were all in a lather of sweat and nearly exhausted. A posse of 
hunters started in the early morning, and found the big brute near the hollow 
and killed him. 




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CHAPTER XXX 



FOREST COUNTY (OLD) FORMATION OF COUNTY COUNTY SEAT PIONEERS — 

PIONEER ROADS AND PATHS PIONEER ELECTIONS, MAILS, OFFICERS — 

BOAT-BUILDING 

Forest is the only county in the State created by a joint resolution of 
the Legislature. 

" The joint resolution, approved April, 1848, establishing Forest County, 
detached the territory within the following described boundaries, from Jef- 
ferson County : From termination of a straight line running west on the south 
side of Elk County ; thence due west to intersection of north and south line on 
the west side of Jefferson County ; then along Jefferson County line to its ter- 
mination ; thence east along the line of that county to the line of Elk County ; 
along the line of Elk County to the place of beginning. The Commissioners 
to locate such lines, as well as the county seat, were Joseph Y. James, of War- 
ren County, W. P. Wilcox, of Elk County, and Hiram Payne, of McKean 
County, who were ordered to report to the Commissioners of Jefferson 
County, to which Forest was to remain attached for judicial and county 
purposes until organized, and township elections were to be held without 
reference to county lines until that period. The act approved April 15, 185 1, 
placed the new county in the eighteenth judicial district, when organized. 
In April, 1850, an act of the Legislature fixed the southern boundary of 
Forest County at the north bank of the Clarion River, from a point where 
the east line of Clarion County crosses that river to the west line of Elk 
County." 

" The undersigned Commissioners to locate the seat of justice for Forest 
County will meet at Branch's Tavern on Tuesday, the 17th of October, next, 
and at Cyrus Blood's on the 18th, for the purpose of selecting a proper 
site, etc. 

" Wm. P. Wilcox. 
Hiram Payne. 
J. Y. James. 

" September 26. 1848." 

Wild land sold in the county then for from fifty cents to two dollars an 
acre. 

Cyrus Blood was the pioneer of Forest County. He brought his family 

518 



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HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

into this wilderness in 1833. For years his farm was called the " Blood 
settlement." When he settled there the region was full of panthers, bears, 
wolves, wild-cats, and deer. Mr. Blood was a powerful man, of great energy 
and courage. He was well educated and a surveyor. 

Cyrus Blood was born at New Lebanon, New Hampshire, March 3, 
1795. He was educated in Boston. When twenty-two he migrated to Cham- 
bersburg, Pennsylvania, where he was the principal of the academy. He 
was afterwards principal of the Hagerstown Academy, Maryland. He ac- 
cepted and served as a professor in the Dickinson College, at Carlisle, Penn- 
sylvania. 

Ambitious to found a county, Cyrus Blood made several visits into this 
wilderness, and finding that the northern portion of Jefferson County was 





Cyrus Blood 



then an almost unbroken wilderness, he finally purchased a tract of land on 
which Marienville is now located, and decided to make his settlement there. 

It was understood when Mr. Blood purchased in Jefferson County from 
the land company that a road would be opened into 'it for him. In 1833, 
when Mr. Blood arrived where Corsica now is, on the Olean road, he found, 
to his annoyance, that no road had been made. Leaving his family behind 
him, he started from what was then Armstrong's Mill, now Clarington, 
with an ox team, sled, and men to cut their way step by step through the 
wilderness twelve miles to his future home. Every night the men camped 

531 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERM PENNSYLVANIA 

on and around the ox sled. When the party reached Blood's purchase, a 
patch of ground was cleared and a log cabin reared. In October, 1833, Mr. 
Blood and his five children took possession of this forest home. For many 
years Mr. Blood carried his and the neighbors* mail from Brookville. Pan- 
thers were so plenty that they have been seen in the garden by the children, 
playing like dogs. For years they had to go with their grist to mill to Kit- 
tanning, Leatherwood, or Brookville, 

The pioneer path or trail was opened by Cyrus Blood from Clarington 
to Blood's settlement. This was in the year 1833. The pioneer road was 
this " path" widened and improved by Blood several years later. 

The pioneer tavern was the home of Cyrus Blood, Mr. Blood built the 
pioneer saw-mill in 1834 and the pioneer grist-mill in 1840. These mills were 
erected by him on Salmon Creek. 

The pioneer school-master was John D, Hunt. He taught in the winter 
of 1833-34 in Mr. Blood's home. 

The pioneer preacher was Dr. Otis Smith. The pioneer sermon to white 
people was preached in Mr. Blood's house. 

Brookville was the post-office for this settlement from 1833 to 1843. 

The pioneer court-house of Forest County was built in Marienville. of 
hewed logs, and afterwards weather-boarded and painted white. The work 
was done by Bennett Dobbs. t^See illustration.! 

What is now Marienville was called for many years " the Blood set- 
tlement." 

" \\ ACT ORGANIZING FOREST COUNT* FOR JUDICIAL PURPOSES: 

" Section i. Be it enacted, etc. That the county of Forest, from and 
after the first day of September, Anno Domini, one thousand eight hundred 
and fifty-seven, shall be entitled to, and at all times thereafter have all and 
singular the courts, jurisdictions, officers, rights, and privileges to which other 
counties of this State are entitled by the constitution and laws of this Com- 
monwealth. 

" SECTION 2. That the several courts in and for the said county of For- 
est shall be opened and held in the town of Marien, at such house therein as 
may be designated by the commissioners of said county, until a court-house 
shall be erected in and for said county, as is hereinafter directed, and shall 
then be held at the said court-house. 

" Section 3. All suits between Forest County citizens to be transferred 
to Forest County courts, etc. 

" Section 4. Relates to the bonds of the public officers. 

" Section 5. That the sheriff, coroner, and officers of Jefferson County, 
who have exercised authority over said Forest County, shall continue to do 
so until similar officers shall be appointed or elected agreeably to law in said 
county of Forest: and the persons who shall be elected associate judges of 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

the county of Forest shall take and subscribe the requisite oaths and affirma- 
tions of office before the prothonotary of Jefferson County, who shall file a 
record of the same in the office of the prothonotary of the court of record in 
the county of Forest. 

" Section 6 attached it to the Western District of the Supreme Court. 

" Section 7. The county shall be annexed to and compose part of the 
eighteenth judicial district. 

" Section 8. Prisoners shall be kept in the Jefferson County jail. 

" Section ii. Election of county officers, etc. 

" Approved May 20. 1857." 




John Conrad, Esq., pioneer lawyer 

Notification of this act and its purposes was published June 11, 1857, 
in the Jefferson County papers for three months, by David C. Gillespie, the 
prothonotary of Jefferson County. 

The pioneer election authorized by this act was held October 13, 1857, 
and the following officials were chosen : 

Associate Judges, Cyrus Blood and Milton Gibbs; Prothonotary, G. W. 
Rose ; Sheriff, John F. Gaul ; Coroner, Archibald Black ; Commissioner, 
Samuel Kincaid ; and Auditor, Timothy Caldwell. 

525 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

The pioneer court under this act was held December 21, 1857, in what 
was then called Marien (now Marienville). President Judge, John S. McCal- 
mont; Associate Judges, Cyrus Blood and Milton Gibbs. W. W. Corbet, as 
prothonotary of Jefferson County, was present and swore in the Associate 
Judges. 

Thomas B. Mayes was appointed by the court to proclaim the opening. 
At die suggestion of the judge, W. P. Jenks and L. D. Rogers, of Brook- 
ville, were admitted to the " bar" of Forest County. These were the pioneer 
admissions to the bar of foreign lawyers. It was ordered by the court that 
Thomas B. Mayes be appointed court crier, and William Walton, of Jenks 
Township, to act as tipstaff. The rules governing the Jefferson County bar 
were adopted to govern the Forest County court. On motion of W. P. Jenks, 
B. F. Lucas, of Brookville, was admitted to the bar. James D. Flick was 
appointed constable for Barnett Township. Cyrus Blood was appointed county 
surveyor. Wolves were still killed in this year, 1857, in Forest County. 

John Conrad, the local lawyer, was admitted at this term. John Conrad 
was born in Siebenhausen, Hesse Cassel, Germany, February 18, 1832. His 
father emigrated to Indiana County, Pennsylvania, in 1833, and settled in 
Rayne Township, on a farm. John read law with A. W. Taylor, of Indiana, 
Pennsylvania ; was admitted to the bar in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, 
in 1855 ; moved to Forest County in the summer of 1857, and was the pio- 
neer lawyer to locate in that county. He was the pioneer district attorney 
of Forest County from 1858 to i860; came to Brookville in the spring of 
1859, where he lived until he died. 

After the adjournment of the court an evening meeting was called of the 
citizens and visitors. G. W. Rose was chosen president, General Seth Clover 
and Charles J. Fox were chosen vice-presidents, and W. W. Corbet was 
chosen secretary. This meeting was addressed by Messrs. Jenks, Rodgers, 
McCalmont, Clover, Fox, and John Conrad. 

The appropriation for schools in 1S50 was, Jenks, $10.56; Barnett, 
$63.96; Tionesta, $4.10. Heath had a population of 187, and Barnett, 479. 

About March 8, 185 1, the sun was darkened for one week with pigeons. 
On April 1. 1854, the same conditions existed. 

The pioneer election in Forest County was in October, 1S52. The State 
vote counted with Jefferson. 

PIONEER OFFICERS FOR FOREST COUNTY (OLD) 

County Commissioners, Cyrus Blood, three years ; John Wynkoop, two 
years: Charles J. Fox, one year; B. Sweet, commissioners' clerk; treas- 
urer, John D. Hunt ; auditors, Cyrus W. Hant, William M. Clyde. 

The pioneer hunter was John Aylesworth. He came to Barnett Town- 
ship, Jefferson County, or what in 1838 became Jenks Township, Jefferson 
County, and is now Jenks Township. Forest County, in 1834. He was a 

526 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Connecticut Yankee, but came to this wilderness from Ashtabula, Ohio. He 
was the most noted and famous hunter in that section of Jefferson County. 

Beavers made their homes here in the early thirties, in the great flag 
swamp or beaver meadows on Salmon Creek. These meadows covered about 
six hundred acres. Furs were occasionally then brought to Brookville from 
these meadows by trappers. 

The pioneer justice of the peace, John L. Williamson, was elected in 
1840. 

There appears to have been no election from 1845 t0 T 849, when a full 
set of township officers, including the pioneer constable, Thomas Patterson, 
was elected. 

The pioneer coal for Forest County was mined at Balltown. 

The best deer-licks in the township were on the Blue Jay. 




Rafting timber, Clarion River 



Ebenezer Kingsley was the pioneer hunter of Tionesta. He settled in 
that section in about 1825. Kingsley was a very eccentric man, and a great 
hunter and trapper. He named nearly all the streams in that section, such 
as Bear Creek, because he shot a bear there ; Jug Handle Creek, because he 
broke the handle off his jug at its mouth; Salmon Creek, because he shot a 
salmon at its mouth, etc. 

The pioneer saw-mill was built about 1823, by Isaac Ball, Luther Barnes, 
and William Manross, at the place now called Balltown. The usual food at 
this mill was said to be one barrel of flour and two barrels of whiskey. 

Retailers of foreign merchandise in 1854 were Howe & Co., C. C. 
Johnson, Shippen & Morrisen, and P. Woodward. 

Licensed hotels: Clarington, 1855, Peter G. Reed and Oramel Thing. 

527 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

PIONEER MAIL SERVICE 

Colonel John 1). Hunt was appointed postmaster for Marienville, Sep- 
tember 25, 1 85 1. 

Early mail service March, 1856, from Brookville by Clarington to 
Marienville (horseback), twenty-six miles and return, once a week. 

Dr. D. Bachman located at Clarington May 29, 1857. His stay was short. 

The pioneer store was opened at Cooksburg bv Hon. Andrew Cook, in 
1852. 

The pioneer post-office was established in 1871, in Cooksburg. and An- 
drew Cook was appointed postmaster. 

Voters in 1847: Jenks, 10; Barnett, 57; Tionesta, 7. 

PIONEER SALE OF LOTS IN MARION (OLD COUNTY SEAT) 

" Notice. — The public is informed that the sale of lots in Marion, For- 
est Count)', has been adjourned on account of the inclement weather, until 
May or June next, when timely notice will be given. 

" Cyrus Blood. 

" January [6. 1849." 

The pioneer school in what is now Forest County was in what is now 
Tionesta Borough, in 1820. The pioneer school in old Forest County was 
at Marienville, in 1840. Cyrus Blood, master. 

The pioneer missionary to locate and preach in what is now Forest 
Count}' was the Rev. David Zeisberger, in October, 1767. 

PIONEER FLAT-BOATS PIONEER TIPPLES, ETC. 

The pioneer boats in what is now Jefferson County were built at Port 
Barnett for the transportation of Centre County pig-metal. In 1830 they 
were built on the North Fork for the same purpose. In after-years, when 
tipples were used, boats were built and tipples erected at the following points, 
— viz. : at Findley's, on Sandy Lick, by Nieman and D. S. Chitister ; at 
Brookville, by John Smith ; at Troy, by Peter Lobaugh ; at Heathville, by A. 
B. Paine and Arthur O'Donnell ; at the mouth of Little Sandy, by William 
Bennett ; at Robinson's Bend, by Hance Robinson. This industry along 
Red Bank was maintained by the charcoal furnaces of Clarion and Armstrong 
Counties. The boats were sold at the Olean bridge at Broken Rock, and sold 
again at Pittsburg for coal-barges. Some of the boats were sold for the 
transportation of salt to the South from Freeport. The industry on Red 
Bank ceased in the fifties. 

Anthony and Jacob Esbaugh built scaffolds and boats for the dealers on 
Red Bank. The pioneer boat was sixteen feet wide and forty feet long. 
These boats were always built from the best lumber that could be made from 
the choicest timber that grew in our forests. Each gunwale was hewed out 

528 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 



of the straightest pine-tree that was to be found, — viz. : twenty-eight inches 
high at the " rake," fourteen inches at the stern, ten inches thick, and forty 
feet long, two gunwales to a boat. The ties were hewed six inches thick, with 
a six-inch face, mortised, dove-tailed, and keyed into the gunwale six feet 
apart. The six " streamers" for a boat were sawed three by twelve inches, 
sixteen feet long, and " pinned" to the ties with one pin in the middle of 
each streamer. These pins were made of white-oak one and a half inches 
square and ten inches long. The plank for the "bottoms" were first-class 
white-pine one and a half inches thick, and pinned to the streamers and gun- 
wales with white-oak pins, calked with flax or tow. All pioneer boats were 
built on the ground and turned, by about two men, — and a gallon of whiskev. 








Building boat on Clarion River 

— over and on a bed made of brush to keep the planks in the bottom from 
springing. All boats were " sided up" with white-oak studding two and a 
half by five inches and six feet (high) long. Each studding was mortised 
into a gunwale two feet apart. Inside the boat a siding eighteen inches high 
was pinned on. These boats were sold in Pittsburg, to be used as coal-barges 
for the transportation of coal to the Lower Mississippi. The boats were 
manned and run by two or three men, the pilot always at the stern. The 
oar, stem and blade, was made the same as for ordinary rafts. The pioneer 
boats were tied and landed with halyards made of twisted hickory saplings. 
The size of these boats in 1843 was eighteen feet wide and eighty feet long, 
34 529 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

built on tipples similar to the present method. The boats are now made 
from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and fifty feet long and from 
twenty to twenty-four feet wide, and from spliced gunwales. 

Sixty years ago boats were built on the Big Toby at Maple Creek. Clar- 
ington. Millstone. Wynkoop, Spring Creek. Irvine, and Ridgway. The 
pioneer boat was probably built at Maple Creek by William Reynolds. The 
pioneer boats were gems of the art as compared with those made to-day. 
Now the gunwales are spliced up of pieces to make the required length, and 
the boats are made of hemlock. The industry, however, is carried on more 
extensively on the Clarion now than ever, and for the same market. 

From this time forth, as has been the case for several years of the past, 
the boat bottom will be of hemlock, patched of many pieces, spiked together 
instead of built with long oak pins, and they will have to be handled with 
care to serve their purpose. Of such a kind of boat bottoms there is small 
danger of scarcity. 




CHAPTER XXXI 



JEFFERSON COUNTY FORMATION AND ORGANIZATION PIONEER SETTLERS 

TREES JOSEPH BARNETT INDIAN NAMES OF STREAMS WAGONS ROADS 

STORES MURDERS COURT-HOUSE AND JAIL PHYSICIANS— MILITIA 

BRIDGES ASSESSMENT AND SETTLERS OLD FOLKS' PICNIC 

When William Penn came to what is now the State of Pennsylvania 
and organized what has become our present Commonwealth, he erected three 
counties, which were Bucks, Philadelphia, and Chester. Chester County 
extended over the western portion of the State at that time. In reality, it 
had jurisdiction over only the inhabitable portion, but its boundary lines 
extended west of what is now Jefferson County. 

On May 10, 1729, Lancaster County was erected from Chester. On 
January 27, 1750, Cumberland County was erected from Lancaster. On 
March 9, 1771, Bedford County was erected from Cumberland. March 27, 
1772, Northumberland County was erected, and for twenty-four years our 
wilderness was in this county. On April 13, 1796, Lycoming County was 
erected from Northumberland, and on March 26, 1804, Jefferson County was 
erected from Lycoming County. Thus you will see that this wilderness was 
embraced in six other counties before it was erected into a separate county. 
The name of the county was given in honor of Thomas Jefferson, who was then 
President of the LTnited States. The original area of Jefferson County con- 
tained twelve hundred and three square miles, but it now has only about 413,- 
440 acres; highest altitude, from twelve hundred to eighteen hundred and 
eighty feet above sea-level ; length of county, forty-six miles ; breadth, twenty- 
six miles. 

" Jefferson County is now in the fourth tier of counties east of the Ohio 
line, and in the third tier south of the New York line, and is bounded by 
Forest and Elk on the North, Clearfield on the east, Indiana on the south, 
and Armstrong and Clarion on the west. Its south line now runs due west 
twenty-three and one-third miles from the Clearfield-Indiana corner; its 
west line, thence due north twenty-eight and one-quarter miles to the Clarion 
River; its north line, first up the Clarion River to Elk County, thence due 
south one-half mile, thence southeast thirteen and three-quarter miles, to 
Clearfield County ; its east line runs first southwest ten miles, thence due 
south fifteen and one-third miles, to the starting-place at the Clearfield- 
Indiana corner. 

53i 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" The original boundary lines enclosed an area of more than one thou- 
sand square miles, embracing much of what is now Forest and Elk, beyond 
the Clarion River. At what time the present boundaries were erected is not 
certain; but much shifting took place, especially along the northern border, 
until comparatively recent years. 

" The pioneer people were mainly of Scotch-Irish descent, with a con- 
siderable intermixture of the German element, industrious, prudent, and 
thrifty." 

It was first attached to Westmoreland County for judicial purposes, and 
afterwards to Indiana. 

Population in 1810, 161 ; in 1820, 561 ; in 1830, 2025 ; in 1840, 7253. 

There are no mountains in the county, but the surface is hilly. The 
rocks pertain to the series of coal measures lying on the outskirts of the 
Pittsburg coal basin. Coal is found all through the county. 

In 1840 wild lands sold at from one dollar to two dollars per acre. For 
many years after its establishment the county was but a hunting-ground for 
whites and Indians. 

FOREST-TREES 

" The southern portion of Jefferson County was mostly covered with 
white oak, black oak, rock oak, chestnut, sugar, beech, and hickory. 

" The rock areas of northern Jefferson were covered with pine and hem- 
lock, with scarcely a trace of white oak. There is still a considerable quan- 
tity of marketable hemlock left. 

" White oak, chestnut, sugar, beech, and hickory were the principal kinds 
of wood on the cleared lands. 

" White oak was found mostly on the high uplands. 

" W. C. Elliott says of trees, ' There were four kinds of maple, four of 
ash, five of hickory, eight of oak, three of birch, four of willow, four of 
poplar, four of pine, and from one to three of each of the other varieties. 
The following are the names of all of them ; some of the trees are not cor- 
rectly named, but the names given are the only English names by which they 
go. Their Latin names are all correct and would be given, but would not 
be understood. Sweet-bay, cucumber, elkwood, long-leaved cucumber, white 
basswood, toothache-tree, wafer-ash, spindle-tree, Indian-cherry, feted buck- 
eye, sweet buckeye, striped maple, sugar-maple, white maple, red maple, 
ash-leaved maple, staghorn sumach, dwarf sumach, poison elder, locust, 
coffee-nut, honey-locust, judas-tree, wild plum, hog-plum, red cherry, black- 
cherry, crab-apple, cockspur, thorn, scarlet haw, blackthorn, Washington 
thorn, service-tree, witch-hazel, sweet-gum, dogwood, boxwood, sour-gum, 
sheep-berry, stag-bush, sorrel-tree, spoonwood, rosebay, southern buckthorn, 
white ash, red ash, green ash, black ash, fringe-tree, catalpa, sassafras, red 
elm, white elm, rock elm, hackberry, red mulberry, sycamore, butternut, 
walnut, bitternut, pignut, kingnut, shagbark, white hickory, swamp white 

532 



I ELK 
FOREST | 

N o \r* *=? 




N D I ANA 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

oak, chestnut oak, yellow oak, red oak, shingle oak, chinquapin, chestnut, iron- 
wood, leverwood, beech, gray birch, red birch, black birch, black alder, speckled 
alder, black willow, sand-bar willow, almond-willow, glaucous willow, aspen, 
two varieties of soft poplar, two varieties of cottonwood, two varieties of 
necklace-poplar, liriodendron (incorrectly called poplar), white cedar, red 
cedar, white pine, hemlock, balsam, fir, hickory, pine, pitch-pine or yellow 
pine, red pine, Virginia date, and forest olive. In addition to the above were 
numerous wild berries, vines, etc' " 

Many of these trees were lofty, magnificent, and valuable, and were not 
surpassed in any State in the Union. There were over one hundred varieties. 
The State school-book of 1840 taught that two of our varieties were dis- 
tinctive and peculiar to Pennsylvania, — viz., the cucumber and umbrella-tree, 
or elkwood. I will stop to say here, that the woods then were full of sweet 
singing birds and beautiful flowers ; hence some old pioneer called the settle- 
ment " Paradise." 

For the last fifty years a great army of woodmen have been and are yet, 
to-day, " hacking down these monarchs of the forest," and floating or con- 
veying them or their product to market. I need not mention our tanneries 
or saw-mills of to-day. But now 

" Look abroad : another race has filled these mountain forests, wide the wood recedes, 
And towns shoot up, and fertile lands are tilled by hardy mountaineers." 

In regard to the first settlement and early history of the county I have 
made diligent research, and find, what is not unusual, some conflicting ac- 
counts and statements. These I have endeavored to compile, arrange, and 
harmonize to the best of my ability. 

From the best information I am enabled to gather and obtain, Andrew 
Barnett and Samuel Scott were sent in 1795 by Joseph Barnett, who was 
then living in either Northumberland, Lycoming, or Dauphin County, Penn- 
sylvania, to explore the famous region then about French Creek, now Craw- 
ford County, Pennsylvania. But when these two " explorers" reached Mill 
Creek, now Port Barnett, they were forcibly impressed with the great natural 
advantages of the place for a saw-mill. They stopped over two or three 
days to examine the creek. They explored as far down as to where Summer- 
ville now is, and, after this careful inspection, concluded that this spot, where 
" the lofty pine leaned gloomily over every hill-side," was just the ideal home 
for a lumberman. 

They went no farther west, but returned east, and informed Joseph 
Barnett of the " Eureka" they had found. In the spring of 1797, Joseph and 
Andrew Barnett, Samuel Scott, and Moses Knapp came from their home at 
the mouth of Pine Creek, then in Lycoming County, to the ideal mill-site of 
Andrew, and so well pleased were they all that they commenced the erection 
of the pioneer cabin and mill in the wilderness, in what was then Pine Creek 

535 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Township. Lycoming County. The cabin and mill were on the present site 
of Humphrey's mill and grounds at Port Barnett. The Indians assisted, 
about nine in number, to raise these buildings, and not a stroke of work 
would these savages do until they had eaten up all the provisions Mr. 
Barnett had. This took three days. Then they said, " Me eat, me sleep : 
now me strong, now me work." In the fall of the same year Joseph Barnett 
returned to his family, leaving his brother Andrew and Scott to finish some 
work. In a short time thereafter Andrew Barnett became ill and died, and 
was buried on the north bank of the creek, at the junction of Sandy Lick 
and Mill Creek. Scott and two Indians being the only attendants at the 
funeral. Joseph Barnett was, therefore, soon followed by Scott, who was 
his brother-in-law. bringing the melancholy tidings of this event, which for 
a time cast a gloom over the future prospects of these sturdy pioneers. 

In 170S. however. Joseph Barnett, Scott, Knapp, and a married man by 
the name of Joseph Hutchison, came out with them and renewed their work. 
Hutchison brought his wife, household goods, also two cows and a calf, and 
commenced housekeeping, and lived here one year before Joseph Barnett 
brought his family, who were then living in Dauphin County. Hutchison is 
clearly the pioneer settler in what is now Jefferson County. He was a 
sawyer. In that year the mill was finished by Knapp and Scott, and in 1799 
there was some lumber sawed. In November, 1799. Joseph Barnett brought 
his wife and family to the home prepared for them in the wilderness. Bar- 
nett brought with him two cows and seven horses, five loaded with goods as 
pack-horses and two as riding or family horses. His route of travel into 
this wilderness was over Meade's trail. 

The first boards were run in 1S01 to what is now Pittsburg. About four 
thousand feet were put in a raft, or what would be a two-platform piece. 
Moses Knapp was the pioneer pilot. 

Joseph Barnett. the patriarch of Jefferson County, was the son of John 
and Sarah Barnett, and was born in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, in 1754. 
His father was born in Ireland, and located in Pennsylvania in the early 
part of the eighteenth century, and was a fanner up to the time of his death 
in 1757. His mother died a few years later, and Joseph was " brought up" 
by his relatives. He was raised on a farm, and was thus peacefully employed 
when the Revolution commenced. As a son of a patriotic sire he could not 
resist taking part in the struggle, and so joined the army and served for some 
years. The exact duration of his service cannot now be ascertained, but 
this we learn : " he was a brave and efficient soldier, and never faltered in 
the path of duty." He also served in the State militia in the campaign 
against the Wyoming boys. After the war he settled in Northumberland 
Count}", where he owned a large tract of land, but was dispossessed of it by 
some informalities of the title. Here he was married to Elizabeth Scott, 
sister of Samuel Scott and daughter of John Scott. July 3. 1704. 

536 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

I find Joseph Barnett assessed in Pine Creek Township, Northumberland 
County, April 28, 1786. I find him, in 1788, assessed in the same town- 
ship and county with a saw-mill and as a single freeman. This was his saw- 
mill at the mouth of Pine Creek, and the mill on which he lost his eye. The 
property is now in Clinton County. After losing his mill and land Barnett 
returned in the nineties to Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, and engaged in 
contracting for and building bridges. In 1799 I find him again assessed in 
Pine Creek Township, then Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, with two hun- 
dred and twenty-five acres of land. This was his Port Barnett property, 
where he migrated to with his family in November, 1799; and here he 
engaged in the erection of mills and in the lumbering business that eventually 
made Port Barnett, then in Lycoming County, the centre of business for a 
large extent of territory. In a short time a tub grist-mill was added to his 
saw-mill, and, with his " Port Barnett flint-stone binns," he made an eatable, 
if not a very desirable, quality of flour. The Indians (Cornplanters and 
Senecas) then in the country were good customers, and what few whites 
there were for forty miles around would make his cabin a stopping-place for 
several days at a time. His log cabin became a tavern, the only one in a 
seventy-five miles' journey, and was frequented by all the early settlers. 

" His Indian guests did not eat in the house, but would in winter make 
a pot of mush over his fire and set it out in the snow to cool ; then one 
fellow would take a dipper and eat his fill of the pudding, sometimes with 
milk, butter, or molasses; then another would take it and go through the 
same process until all were satisfied. The dogs would then help themselves 
from the same pot, and when they put their heads in the pot in the Indian's 
way he would give them a slap over the head with the dipper." 

He kept a store, rafted lumber on Sandy Lick and Red Bank, and at 
the same time attended to his saw- and grist-mills. I find him assessed in 
Pine Creek Township in 1800 as a farmer. 

" The Senecas of Cornplanter's tribe were friendly and peaceable neigh- 
bors, and often extended their excursions into these waters, where they 
encamped, two or three in a squad, and hunted deers and bears, taking the 
hams and skins in the spring to Pittsburg. Their rafts were constructed of 
dry poles, upon which they piled up their meat and skins in the form of a 
haystack, took them to Pittsburg, and exchanged them for trinkets, blankets, 
calicoes, weapons, etc. They were friendly, sociable, and rather fond of 
making money. During the war of 1812 the settlers were apprehensive that 
an unfortunate turn of the war upon the lakes might bring an irruption of the 
savages upon the frontier through the Seneca nation. 

" Old Captain Hunt, a Muncy Indian, had his camp for some years on 
Red Bank, near where is now the southwestern corner of Brookville. He 
got his living by hunting, and enjoyed the results in drinking whiskey, of 
which he was inordinately fond. One year he killed seventy-eight bears, — 

537 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

they were plenty then ; the skins might be worth about three dollars each, — 
nearly all of which he expended for his favorite beverage. 

" Samuel Scott resided here until 1810, when, having scraped together, 
by hunting and lumbering, about two thousand dollars, he went down to the 
Miami River and bought a section of fine land, which made him rich. 

" It is related that Joseph Barnett at one time carried sixty pounds of 
flour on his back from Pittsburg. Their supplies of flour, salt, and other 
necessaries were frequently brought in canoes from that place. These were 
purchased with lumber, which he sawed and rafted to that city, and which in 
those days was sold for twenty-five dollars per thousand. The nearest settle- 
ment on Meade's trail eastward of Port Barnett was Paul Clover's, thirty- 
three miles distant, on the west branch of the Susquehanna, where Curwens- 
ville now stands ; and westward Fort Venango was forty-five miles distant, 
which points were the only resting-places for the travellers who ventured 
through this unbroken wilderness. The Seneca Indians, of Cornplanter's 
tribe, heretofore mentioned, often extended their hunting excursions to these 
waters, and encamped to hunt deer and bears and make sugar. They are 
said to have made sugar by catching the sap in small troughs, and, after 
collecting in a large trough, hot stones were dipped into it to boil it down." — 
Day's Collections. 

About the year 1802 Joseph Barnett consented to act as banker for the 
Indians around Port Barnett. The Indians were all " bimetallists," and had 
the " silver craze," for their money was all silver ; and bringing their mono- 
metallism to Mr. Barnett, he received it from them and deposited it in their 
presence in his private vault, — viz., a small board trunk covered with hog- 
skin, tanned with the bristles on. On the lid were the letters " J. B.," made 
with brass tacks. The trunk was now full ; the bank was a solid financial 
institution. In a short time, however, the red men concluded to withdraw 
their deposits, and they made a " run" in a body on the bank. Barnett 
handed over the trunk, and each Indian counted out his own pieces, and 
according to their combined count the bank was insolvent ; there was a 
shortage, a deficiency of one fifty-cent piece. Mr. Barnett induced the 
Indians to recount their silver, but the fifty-cent piece was still missing. The 
Indians then declared Mr. Barnett must die ; they surrounded the house and 
ordered him on the porch to be shot. He obeyed orders, but pleaded with 
them to count their pieces the third time, and if the fifty-cent piece was still 
missing, then they could shoot him. This the Indians considered fair, and 
they counted the silver pieces the third time, and one Indian found he had 
one more piece than his own ; he had the missing fifty-cent piece. Then 
there was joy and rejoicing among the Indians. Banker Barnett was no 
longer a criminal ; he was the hero and friend of the Indians. 

The cheapest and most expeditious method of obtaining such supplies as 
could not be produced on the ground was to go to Pittsburg for them. 

538 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Rafts of sawed lumber were run to Pittsburg in the spring of the year. A 
canoe was taken along, and when the raft was sold most of the avails would 
be invested in whiskey, pork, sugar, dry goods, etc. These goods were then 
loaded into the canoe, and the same men that brought the raft through to 
market would " pole" or " push" the loaded canoe up the river and up the 
creek to Port Barnett. This was a " voyage" that all men of full strength 
were very desirous of making, and was the subject of conversation for the 
remaining part of the year. 

These canoes were hewed out of a large pine-tree, large enough to re- 
ceive a barrel of flour crosswise. A home-made rope of flax was attached to 
the front end of the canoe to be used in pulling the canoe up and over ripples. 
The men with these canoes had to camp in the woods wherever night over- 
took them, and their greatest terror and fear was rattlesnakes, for the creek 
bottoms were alive with them. 

INDIAN NAMES OF STREAMS 

Da yon on dah teh go wah (Big Toby, or Alder) gah yon hah da (creek), 
Big Toby Creek. 

Da yon on dah teh we oh (Little Toby, or Alder) gah yon hah da 
(creek), Little Toby Creek. 

Oh non da (Pine) gah yon hah da (creek), Pine Creek. 

Oh twenge ah (red) yoh non da (bank), gah yon hah da (creek), Red 
Bank Creek. 

Oh ne sah geh jah geh da geh gah yon hah da, Sandy Lick Creek. 

Ga de ja hah da gah nos gah yon hah da, Mahoning Creek. 

Oh to weh geh ne gah yon hah da, North Fork Creek. 

Oh nah da gon, Among the Pines. 

Among the pioneer industries was tar-burning. Kilns were formed and 
split fagots of pitch-pine knots were arranged in circles and burned. The 
tar was collected by a ditch and forced into a chute, and from there barrelled. 
John Matson, Sr., marketed on rafts as high as forty barrels in one season. 
Freedom Stiles was the king " tar-burner." Pioneer prices at Pittsburg for 
tar was ten dollars a barrel. 

PIONEER WAGONS IN JEFFERSON COUNTY, AND PIONEER DRAYING IN 

BROOKVILLE 

The pioneer wheeled vehicle made in what is now Jefferson County was 
a wooden ox-cart, constructed by Joseph Barnett in 1801. The wheels were 
sawed from a large oak log, and a hole was chiselled in the centre for the 
hickory axle. Walter Templeton, a very ingenious man, and forced to be a 
" jack-of-all-trades" for the people who lived in what is now Eldred Town- 
ship, made two wooden wagons in 1829, one for himself and one for his 
neighbor, Isaac Matson. These wagons were all wood except the iron linch- 

539 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

pin to keep the wheel in place. The wheels were solid, and were sawed from 
round oak logs. The hind-wheels were sawed from a larger log', and a hole 
was chiselled in die centre of each lor the axle. 

Matson hauled, in 1830, the stone spawls for our pioneer jail in his 
wagon, with two large black oxen, called " Buck" and " Berry." Matson's 
compensation was one dollar and fifty cents a day and '"find" himself. 

Draying in those days was usually by two oxen and a cart ; hut Daniel 
Elgin bought these black oxen from Matson. and used one of them for some 
time for a one-ox dray in Brookville. 

The pioneer tar to grease these axles was made in this way: Pitch-pine 
knots were split tine and dropped into an iron kettle; a piece of hoard was 
then placed over the mouth of the kettle, and then the kettle was turned 
upside down over a little bed of earth prepared for it. This bed had a cir- 
cular drain around it. and this circular drain had a straight one. with a 
spout at the end. Everything- being completed for the burning, the board 
was taken from under the kettle, and the kettle was then covered with fagots. 
The wood was tired and the heat from the fire boiled the tar from the split 
knots and forced it into and through these drains, and from the spout of 
which it was caught in a wooden trough. 

The pioneer road was the Indiana and Port Barnett, for the creation 
of which the petition of a number of citizens of Jefferson County and parts 
of Indiana County was presented to the Indiana County Court at the Sep- 
tember term, 1808. The points of the road were from Brady's mill, on Little 
Mahoning Creek. Indiana County, to Sandy Lick Creek, in Jefferson County 
(Port Barnett), where the State (Milesburg and Waterford) road crosses 
the same. The Court appointed as viewers Samuel Lucas, John Jones, Moses 
Knapp. and Samuel Scott, of Jefferson County, and John Park and John 
Wier, of Indiana County, to view and make a report at the next term. This 
road was probably built in iSlO. 

The pioneer justice of the peace was Thomas Lucas, appointed January 
10. 1809. 

The early settlers to erect cabins on the Indiana road in Pine Creek 
Township were Joseph Carr in 1817, Manuel Reitz. George Gray, and Samuel 
McOuiston in i8_\-. John Matthews in 1830. Elijah Clark in 1833. Andrew 
Hunter and William Wyley in 1834, and Isaac Swineford in 1835. The pio- 
neer school-house in this settlement was built in 1830; the pioneer grave- 
yard was on the McCann farm in 1830. 

"Fines for MISDEMEANORS. — In the early days of the county's history 
the penalties prescribed by the laws of the Commonwealth for any offence 
against any of the statutes was rigorously enforced, seemingly without regard 
to the social standing of the offender. Sabbath-breaking, swearing, and 
intoxication seem to have been the sins most vigorously punished by the 
arm of the law. 

540 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" The earliest recognition of the observance of Sunday as a legal duty is 
a constitution of Constantine in 321 a.d. enacting that all courts of justice 
and all workshops were to be at rest on Sunday. Charlemagne, in the West, 
forbade labor of any kind on Sunday. At first the tendency was to observe 
the Sabbath (Saturday) rather than Sunday. Later the Sabbath and Sunday 
came to be observed at the same period, but after the time of Constantine the 
observation of the Sabbath practically ceased. Sunday observance was 
directed by injunctions of both Edward VI. and Elizabeth. 

" The first election in the county was held at Port Barnett, and up to 
1818 it was the only polling and election precinct in and for the county. At 
the last election (when the township was the whole county), in 1817, Friday, 
March 14, the names of the contestants for office and the votes were as fol- 
lows, — viz. : Constable, Elijah M. Graham, 22 votes ; John Dixon, 13 votes. 
Supervisors, Joseph Barnett, 25 votes; Thomas Lucas, 28 votes. Overseer 
of the Poor, Henry Keys, 9 votes ; John Matson, 6 votes. Fence Appraisers, 
Moses Knapp, 7 votes; William Vastbinder, 7 votes. Town Clerk, Elijah 
M. Graham, 22 votes. 

" Signed and attested by the judges, Walter Templeton and Adam Vast- 
binder." 

The pioneer store was opened by the Barnetts and Samuel Scott, who, 
in 1826, sold it out to Jared B. Evans, and he, in the fall of 1830, removed it 
to Jefferson Street, Brookville, Pennsylvania. 

The pioneer murder in Jefferson County was committed on May 1, 1844. 
Daniel Long, one of the mighty hunters of Pine Creek Township, and Samuel 
Knopsnyder were murdered in Barnett Township, now Heath, near Raught's 
Mills. There was a dispute between Long and James Green about a piece 
of land. The land was a vacant strip. James Green and his son Edwin took 
possession of Long's shanty on this land while Long was absent. On Long's 
return to the shanty in company with Knopsnyder, Long was shot by young 
Green as he attempted to enter the shanty, with Long's own gun. Knop- 
snyder was so terribly cut with an axe in the hands of the Greens that he 
died in a few days. The Greens, father and son, were arrested, tried, and 
convicted of murder in the second degree, and each sentenced to four years 
in the penitentiary. 

James Green, the father, served a year and was pardoned. Edwin 
served his time and returned to Jefferson County a few days only, as he was 
in terror of the Longs. He therefore returned to Pittsburg, and settled down 
somewhere and lived and died highly respected. 

The second murder was in Washington Township in 1845. It occurred 
at a froh'c at the house of James Ross. A dispute arose between Thomas 
Brown and James Smith. Brown struck Smith with a hand-spike, which 
caused his death in twenty-four hours. Too much whiskey was the cause 
of the dispute and blow. Brown was tried in Brookville, convicted, and 

541 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

sentenced to the penitentiary for six years, but was afterwards pardoned 
out. 

The pioneer graveyard in the county was located on the property now of 
William C. Evans, deceased, near the junction of the Ridgway road with 
the pike. I found this graveyard in my boyhood, and thought they were 
Indian graves. My mother told me its history. The graves are now lost and 
the grounds desecrated. The second graveyard in the township was laid out 
in 1842, on Nathaniel Butler's farm, and is still called Butler's graveyard. 

BROOKVILLE 

This borough, the seat of justice of Jefferson County, commenced its 
first building in June, 1830. After the lots were sold, it being then in the 




boundary of Rose Township, its citizens voted with the township till 1848, 
when it was set apart as a distinct polling-place. It was named after, or on 
account of, the springs on its hills, — Brook, attached with the French ville or 
Latin villa, a country seat, in common English a town, — these put together 
form the name. The taxables in 1849 were 177; in 1856, 273. The popula- 
tion in 1840 by census was 276. 

542 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

PIONEERS AND PIONEER EVENTS IN BROOKVILLE 

" The deeds of our fathers in times that are gone, 
Their virtues, their prowess, the toils they endured." 

Day says, in 1843, " Brookville is situated on the Waterford and Sus- 
quehanna Turnpike, forty-four miles east of Franklin, and at the head of 
Red Bank Creek. The town was laid out by the County Commissioners in 
1830; the lots were sold in June of that year at from thirty to three hundred 
dollars per lot. The town is watered by hydrants, supplied by a copious 
spring." 

A road leads from Brookville to Ridgway, a settlement of New England 
and New York people, made some years since on the Little Mill Creek 
branch of the Clarion River, in the northeastern corner of the county. It 
took its name from Jacob Ridgway, of Philadelphia, who owned large tracts 
of land in this vicinity. 

Pnnxsutawney is a small village with fifteen or twenty dwellings, on a 
branch of Mahoning Creek, about eighteen miles southeast from Brookville. 

Brockway is a small settlement on Little Toby's Creek, at the crossing of 
the road between Brookville and Ridgway. 

Somerville, or Troy, is a small cluster of houses on the right bank of 
Red Bank, seven miles below Brookville. Not far from this place is a 
Seceders' church, one of the first built in the county. 

brookville's pioneer school 

The pioneer school-house in the town was built in the summer of 1832. It 
was a small, one-story brick building about twenty feet square, and stood where 
the American House barn now (1905) stands. I remember it well. This house 
was erected under the provisions of the law of 1809, was paid for by voluntary 
subscriptions, and was heated by a ten-plate stove that burned wood. My 
father, Alexander McKnight, taught the first term of school in Brookville in 
this building, in the winter of 1832-33. I can name but a few of his scholars, 
■ — to wit, James Wilson, W. W. Corbet, Rebecca Jane Corbet, mother of Cyrus 
H. Blood, Esq. ; John Heath, Sarah Clements, Daniel Smith, Oliver George, 
Susan Early, John Barton, H. Hastings, and John Butler. There was no 
classification of books and no system in teaching. Each scholar recited from 
his own book. 

School-masters who taught in Brookville subscription schools under the 
law of 1809: 1832-33, Alexander McKnight, pioneer; 1834, Miss Charlotte 
Clark, Charles E. Tucker; 1835, John Wilson; 1836, Hannibal Craighead. 

Masters who taught under the common school law of 1834: 1837, Cyrus 
Crouch, had sixty scholars ; Rev. Jesse Smith, a Presbyterian minister ; 1838, 
Rev. Dexter Morris, a Baptist preacher; 1839, John Smith, father of Mrs. 
S. C. Christ; 1840, S. M. Bell, Mrs. M. T. H. Roundy; 1841, D. S. Deering. 

543 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

In this little brick house the Methodists for years held their weekly prayer- 
meetings. The principal members were Judge Heath, Aarad Pearsall, John 
Dixon, John Heath, David and Cyrus Butler, David Henry and wife, and 
Mary, Jane, and Sarah Gaston. 

The first persons to teach in the academy building that succeeded it were, 
in 1843, R. J. Nicholson, Miss Elizabeth Brady, afterwards Mrs. A. Craig, who 
died in Opril, 1905 ; 1846-50, R. J. Nicholson and Miss Nancy Lucas. 

In 1835 Brookville contained about one hundred and thirty-five people. 
The village had six merchants, — viz., Evans & Clover, William Rodgers, 
James Corbett, Jared B. Evans, Jack & Wise, and Steadman & Watson. 
Each storekeeper had a large dry pine block, called " upping block," in front 
of his store-room, to assist men and women to mount or alight from their 
horses. The stores were lighted with candles and warmed with wood-fires. 
Wood-fires in stoves and chimneys were very dangerous, on account of the 
accumulation of wood-soot in the chimney; for when this soot gathered in 
quantity it always ignited, burned out, and endangered the shingle roof. 
Towns and cities then had men and boys called professional " chimney- 
sweeps." These " sweeps" entered the chimney from the fireplace, climbing 
up and out at the top by the aid of hooks, announcing their exit in a song 
and looking as black as an African negro. In 1835 some of the legal privi- 
leges of the town were : " That no citizen of the town shall be permitted to 
keep on Main Street, at one time, more than ten cords of wood, not more 
than enough brick to build a chimney, or before his door more lumber than 
will build a spring-house; not more than two wagons and a half-sled; a 
few barrels of salt, five thousand shingles, or twenty head of horned cattle.." 
Of course, there was no legal restriction as to the number of " chickens in 
the garden" or geese and hogs on the street. On dark nights the people 
then carried lanterns made of tin, holes being punched in them, and the light 
produced by a candle. The lantern had a side door to open, to light, blow 
out, and replace the candle. 

" MAIL ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES IN 1835 

" The Mail arrives from Philadelphia by way of Harrisburg, Lewis- 
town, and Bellefonte every Monday evening, Wednesday evening, and Friday 
evening in a four Horse Coach. 

" From Erie, by way of Meadville, Franklin, &c, every Monday, Wednes- 
day, and Friday evenings, and returns the same day, in a four Horse Stage. 

" From Washington City, by way of Chambersburgh, Indiana, &c, every 
Friday and returns same day — carried on a Horse. 

" From Pittsburg by way of Kittanning every Friday, and returns on 
Tuesday — carried on a Horse. 

" Arrive at this place every Tuesday, from Smethport, McKean County, 
by way of Gillis Post-office, and returns on Friday — carried on a Horse." 

544 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

The pioneer court-house was contracted for in 1830, and finished in 1833. 

Our first jail was a stone structure, built of common stone, in 1831. It 
was two stories high, was situated on the northeast corner of the public 
square lot, near Joseph Darr's residence, and fronting on Pickering Street. 
Daniel Elgin was the contractor. The building was divided into eight rooms, 
two down-stairs and two up-stairs for the jail proper, and two down-stairs and 
two up-stairs for the sheriff's residence and office. The sheriff occupied the 
north part. It cost eighteen hundred and twenty-four dollars and twenty- 
three cents. 

Previous to and as late as 1850 it was the rule for mill-men, woodsmen, 
and laboring men generally to stop work every Saturday at noon. The idea 
was to better prepare . for the observance of the Sabbath. As far as my 
observation reminds me, I can assure you that spiritualizing was practised 
freely on these Saturday afternoons. 

In 1799, when Joseph Barnett settled at the mouth of Mill Creek, there 
were but two Indian families at that place, — viz., Twenty Canoes and Toma- 
hawk. The two Hunts were there, but only as individuals, and they were 
cousins. Jim Hunt was on banishment for killing his cousin. Captain Hunt 
was an under chief of the Muncey tribe. These Munceys were slaves to our 
Senecas, and captain was the highest military title known to the Indians. 
Other Indians came here to hunt every fall, even to my early days. Of two 
who came about 1800, I might mention John Jamison (Sassy John), who 
had seven sons, all named John ; the other was Crow ; he was an Indian in 
name and in nature. He was feared by both the whites and Indians. He was 
a Mohawk, and a perfect savage. Caturah and Twenty Canoes stayed here 
for several years after the Barnetts came. The Hunts were here most of the 
time until the commencement of the war of 181 2. Jim dare not go back to 
his tribe until the year 1808 or 1809, when his friends stole a white boy in 
Westmoreland County and had him adopted into the tribe in place of the 
warrior Jim had slain. . . . 

Twenty Canoes and Sassy John were back once to see " Joe Blannett" — 
they could not pronounce the name of Barnett. The last visit of Caturah 
was in 1833, he being then over ninety years of age. 

The following is from Hazzard's Register, 1830: 

" Brookville, the spot selected by the commissioners as the seat of justice 
for Jefferson County, and confirmed by act of Assembly, etc., has lately been 
laid out in town lots and out lots bearing this name. At the sale, which 
took place last week, town lots were sold from thirty dollars to three hundred 
dollars each ; the last day's sale averaged above fifty dollars, without in- 
cluding a mill-seat (Barr's) sold for one thousand dollars. Proceeds of sale 
will no doubt be sufficient to build a court-house. This may be considered 
high rate for lots, most of which still remain in a state of nature — but the 
advantages and prospects of this new county town attract a crowd of 
35 545 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

strangers. Persons were known to be present from twelve neighboring 
counties. The location of Brookville is a good one, and it has been judi- 
ciously laid out by Mr. Sloan, the artist." 

These purchasers stopped with James Parks, near what is now Christ's 
brewery, and with David Butler, on the east side of the North Fork, at the 
head of what is now Wayne Cook's dam. A number also stopped with John 
Eason in his shanty on Main Street. The first sale of produce in what is 
now Brookville was in June, 1830. Samuel Sloan, of Armstrong County, was 
then teaming to and from Bellefonte. John Eason had erected a shanty in 
the woods to board the surveyors of the town plot. He observed, one day, 
Samuel Sloan on the pike, and Eason bought from his wagon butter, hams, 
and flour. 

The pioneer physician in the county was John Jenks, M.D. In 1818 
Dr. John W. Jenks came from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and settled in 




Robert Hamilton, of Perry Township, pioneer, farmer, 
and financier; born 1S13; died 1902 

what is now Punxsutawney, where he built a cabin, made improvements, and 
reared a family. He was quite a prominent man, and filled positions of profit 
and trust. He was one of the first associate judges, and father of Judge 
W. P. Jenks, Hon. G. A. Jenks, and Mrs. Judge Gordon. 



PIONEER MAJOR SURGICAL OPERATION 

Moses Knapp moved to what is now called Baxter in the spring of 1821, 
and while cutting timber he got a foot and leg crushed so that his limb had 

546 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

to be amputated above the knee. Dr. Stewart, of Indiana, and Dr. William 
Rankin, of Licking, now Clarion County, performed the amputation in the 
summer of 182 1. Knapp that year was constable, having been elected in the 
spring election. 

PIONEER MILITIA LEGISLATION AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE FORMATION OF 

THE MILITIA OF JEFFERSON COUNTY 

" A FURTHER SUPPLEMENT TO THE ACT ENTITLED ' AN ACT FOR THE REG- 
ULATION OF THE MILITIA OF THIS COMMONWEALTH' 

" Section i. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That 
the part of the ninety-ninth regiment of the fifteenth division of Pennsyl- 
vania militia, lying within the county of Jefferson, shall form a separate 
battalion, and shall be entitled to elect one lieutenant-colonel and one major, 
and the election of the officers thereof shall be held as soon as convenient, 
agreeably to the act to which this is a supplement ; the field officers of this 
battalion shall, as soon as practicable, proceed to organize said battalion into 
companies, so that the number of officers, non-commissioned officers, and 
privates in the several companies thereof may, if they think it expedient, be 
reduced to fifty. 

" Approved April 10, 1826." 

The election under this act was held at Port Barnett, November 6, 1826, 
when the following officers were elected for the pioneer battalion of Jefferson 
County : 

Lieutenant-colonel, Hance Robinson ; major, Andrew Barnett. 

There appears to have been no company numbered 1, but the officers 
elected for company No. 2 were as follows: Captain, Obed Morris; first 
lieutenant, John Hess ; second lieutenant, Benoni Williams. This was a 
company from and around Punxsutawney. 

Of the third company, Samuel Jones was captain ; Thomas Robinson, 
first lieutenant ; John Walters, second lieutenant. 

Fourth company, Frederick Hetrick, captain ; Caleb Howard, first lieu- 
tenant ; James Crow, second lieutenant. 

About 1828 the second election was held for this battalion, when Andrew 
Barnett was elected lieutenant-colonel, and James Corbet was elected major. 

Late in the twenties, or early in the thirties, a volunteer militia company 
was organized in Punxsutawney, known as the Indiana and Jefferson Greens. 
I am unable to give precise dates, as these cannot be found on the records 
at Harrisburg. The pioneer officers were, Samuel Kerr, captain ; David 
McPherson, first lieutenant ; Abraham Brewer, second lieutenant. This com- 
pany had numerous other officers, and had an existence for seven years. 

The second volunteer company organized in Punxsutawney, and dis- 
tinctly belonging to Jefferson County, was the Jefferson Rangers. It was 

547 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

in the third battalion, One Hundred and Forty-fifth Regiment, fifteenth 
division, and must have been organized in 1839. The pioneer officers were : 
James H. Bell, captain; William Long, first lieutenant; John Weaver, 
second lieutenant. In 1842 William Long was captain ; James L. Perry, 
first lieutenant; John Simpson, second lieutenant. About 1846 or 1847 
Phineas W. Jenks was captain; Charles B. Hutchinson, first lieutenant; 
James B. Miller, second lieutenant. This company, under Long, offered its 
services during the Mexican War, but was not accepted. Long was in office 
for seven years. It disbanded about 1848. 

All marching in the militia was done to the tune of " Yankee Doodle" or 
the " Girl I left behind me." Marching was in single file. In drill it was 
" by sections of two, march." Instead of " file right" or " file left," it was 
" right" or " left wheel." Instead of " front" it was " left face." 

The militia of Pennsylvania ceased to muster in 1849, under the pro- 
visions of the act of April 17 of that year, entitled "An act to revise the mili- 
tary system and provide for the arming of such only as shall be uniformed." 

The pioneer county bridge was petitioned for January 19, 1836; ap- 
proved by the court, September, 1836. The bridge was let by the commis- 
sioners December 15, 1836, to Messrs. Thomas Hall and Richard Arthurs, con- 
tractors. The contract called for the completion of the bridge by September, 
1837. The accepted contract bid was seven hundred and ninety-five dollars. 
When finished the bridge was a good solid structure, but was a curious pile 
of wood and stones. 

This pioneer, county, covered bridge was a wooden one, made of pine 
timber. It was erected across Red Bank Creek in the borough of Brookville, 
a few feet west of where the present iron structure on Pickering Street now 
stands. There were no iron nails used in its construction, and only a few 
hand-made iron spikes. The timbers were mortised and tenoned, and put 
together with wooden pins. This was a single-span bridge of one hundred 
and twenty feet in length, with no centre pier, and of the burr-truss plan. 
It had two strings of circle arches, resting on the stone abutments. 

Many memories to the old citizen clustered around this bridge, but time 
has effaced the bridge and will efface the memories. On its planks genera- 
tions have met, passed, and repassed, and from its stringers fishers dropped 
many a hook and line. Up to and later than 1843, Brookville had three 
natatoriums, or swimming-pools, — viz., one at the head of what is now 
Wayne Cook's dam on the North Fork, one at the " Deep Hole" near the 
Sand Spring, on the Sandy Lick, and one at or underneath the covered Bridge 
on Red Bank. In those days, from the time we had May flowers until the 
chilling blasts of November arrived, one of the principal sports of the men 
and boys was swimming in these " pools." We boys, in summer months, all 
day long played on the bosom of these waters or on the border-land. The 
busy men, the doctor, the statesman, the lawyer, the parson, the merchant, the 

548 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

farmer, the mechanic, and the day laborer, all met here in the summer eve 
with boisterous shouts of joy and mirth to welcome up the moon. Of course, 
we had some skilful plungers and swimmers, who were as much at home in 
these waters as the wild ducks and geese of that day. An artist could swim 
on his back, on either side, under the water, float on his back, tread or walk 
in the water, and plunge or dive from almost any height. The beginner or 
boy. though, always commenced his apprenticeship in this graceful profession 
by swimming" with his breast on a piece of plank, board, or old slab. But 
alas to the pioneer, — 

" Swimming sports, once deemed attractive, 
Haunts amidst the bloom of laurel flowers, 

Radiant charms that pleased my senses 
In my boyhood's sunny hours, 

Have departed like illusions, 
And will never more be ours." 

Alexander McKnight located in Brookville in 1832. He taught the 
first term of school in the first school building, was the first school director 
elected for the new borough, held the office of justice of the peace, lieutenant- 
colonel in the militia, had served a year as private in the regular army of the 
United States, and was county treasurer when he died, in 1837, aged twenty- 
seven years. 

Samuel Craig located in Brookville in 1832, Hugh Brady, Esq., in 1832, 
and John Ramsey, the pioneer wagon-maker, in 1834. Hugh Brady and 
family came from Indiana, Pennsylvania, in a Conestoga wagon drawn by 
four horses, — the lead horses having bells on. That was the wagon of that 
period. There was a bridge across the North Fork. They came via Port 
Barnett. John Showalter located here in 1843. He lived in Snyder's Row, 
was a gunsmith, and had a confectionery. James R. Fullerton located in 
Brookville in 1833. The pioneer gunsmith was Isaac Mills. He located 
where Thomas L. Templeton now resides. The pioneer doctor was Alvah 
Evans; he came in September, 1831. He was a young, handsome, portly 
man. He remained four or five months and left. Where he came from 
or where he went to nobody knows. The second doctor was C. G. M. 
Prime. He came in the spring of 1832. Dr. Prime amputated the arm of 
Henry (Hance) Vastbinder. During his residence here he married a Miss 
Wagley. He was a hard drinker. He left here April 3, 1835, for Mississippi, 
where he was shot and killed at a card-table. He became a lawyer while 
here, and delivered political speeches and Fourth of July orations. 

The pioneer merchant to sell drugs and medicines in Brookville was 
Major William Rogers, in 1831. He sold Dover's powder, Hooper's pills, 
mercurial ointment, wine, brandy, whiskey, quinine, etc. 

The pioneer fire-engine was bought June 29, 1839. Cost, two hundred 

549 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

and fifty dollars. It was a hand-engine. This same year it was resolved by 
the council that " the timber standing or lying on the streets and alleys be 
sold for the use of said borough." The first volunteer fire company in the 
United States was at Philadelphia, 1736. 

The pioneer saddle and harness manufactory in Brookville was opened 
by John Brownlee, on May 8, 1834. in the rear of his lot facing Mill Street, 
and opposite D. E. Breneman's residence. 




Pioneer academy 



McDonald started the pioneer cabinet and furniture factory in 

1831-32. 

The pioneer foundry was started by a man named Coleman, in 1841. It 
was located where the Fetzer building now is. 

The pioneer grist-mill and saw-mill were both built by Moses Knapp. 

The pioneer borough election was in 1835. 

The pioneerjsilversmith and watch- and clock-maker was Andrew Straub, 
in 1S33-34. Watches were then assessed as property. 

The pioneer graveyard was on lands now owned by W. C. Evans, on 
Litch's Hill. The second one is now called the " old graveyard." 

The pioneer dentists were Dr. A. M. Hills and T. M. Van Valzah. 

550 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

These were travelling dentists, and came here periodically. The first dentist 
to locate was William J. Chandler. 

In 1832 Peter Sutton built and kept a tavern on the corner of Taylor 
Street, across the North Fork, now Litchtown. In 1832 or 1833 there was 
a frame tavern adjoining the Franklin Tavern. It was kept for a number 
of years by a man named Craig, Mrs. Wagley, and others. 

The pioneer tannery was built in 183 1 by David Henry, on the lot now 
occupied by the United Presbyterian church. As late as 1843 a great gully 
crossed Main Street, carrying the water from this institution over and through 
the lot now occupied by that model institution of the town, the National 
Bank of Brookville. 

Miss Julia Clark opened the pioneer millinery and mantua-making busi- 
ness in Brookville. Prices: bonnets, leghorn, $5; silk, $2.50; gimp, $1.50; 
straw, $1. In her advertisement she says, " She can be seen at her residence, 
four doors east of E. Heath's store, on Main Street. Persons, so wishing, 
can be supplied by her with ladies' leghorn hats, flats and crown, from No. 
32 to 42 ; ladies' Tuscan and French gimp ; Italian braid hats ; Leghorn 
braid, Tuscan and Italian edge, Misses' gimp hats, Tuscan; French gimp 
by the piece. She hopes, by giving her undivided attention to the above 
business, to merit a share of public patronage. Brookville, July 13, 1834." 

The pioneer tinner was Samuel Truby. He came from Indiana, Penn- 
sylvania, arriving here on January 1, 1834. The last thirteen miles of the 
journey was through a dense forest, without house or clearing. They stopped 
at John Eason's tavern, and as soon as possible he commenced to cut down 
the trees on and clear his lot, corner of Jefferson and Pickering Streets, 
preparatory to building a house, a contract for the building of which was 
taken by the late R. Arthurs, he agreeing to furnish all the material and finish 
it as specified by April 1 for the sum of forty dollars, which was paid in 
silver quarters. The house was sixteen feet square and one and a half stories 
high. 

Hon. Thomas Hastings came in May. 1831. " Nearly all of what is now 
the principal part of the town — Main Street and Jefferson Street — was then 
a forest. Only three houses had yet been built, — the Red Lion Hotel, where 
Dr. Gregg's barber-shop now is, the hotel now occupied by P. J. Allgeier." 

The pioneer settler to locate where Brookville is was Moses Knapp. The 
pioneer to locate in the county seat was John Eason, father of Rev. David 
Eason. He bought the lot on the corner of Main Street and Spring Alley, 
and erected the pioneer house in the county seat, — viz., in August, 1830, and 
opened it for a tavern. Mr. Eason died in 1835. In 183 1 William Robinson 
lived in a little log house on the corner of Mill and Water Streets. This log 
house and log stable had been built by Moses Knapp in 1806. The next per- 
son to locate was perhaps Thomas Hall. Benjamin McCreight was an early 
settler. Mr. McCreight was a tailor and carried on the business. He was 

55i 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

an honorable and useful man, and held many responsible positions during his 
life here. Thomas M. Barr came here in 1830. He was a stone-mason and 
bricklayer, and assisted to build up the town by taking contracts. The pioneer 
blacksmith was Jacob Riddleberger, in 1832-33. William Clark, Sr., came 
to Brookville in 1830, and erected a tavern on the northwest corner of 
Pickering and Jefferson Streets. In the fall of 1830 Jared B. Evans moved 
his store from Port Barnett to Brookville, and was appointed the pioneer 
postmaster for Brookville. Brookville, by post-road, was one hundred 
and sixty-five miles northwest of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and two hundred 
and thirty-eight miles northwest of Washington, D. C. Mr. Evans's was 
the pioneer store. The second store was opened three days later by Major 
William Rodgers. Thomas Hastings located in 183 1, and built the Jefferson 
Tavern. Robert P. Barr came in 1830. He was a useful and public-spirited 
man. He built the saw-mill and flouring-mill on the North Fork. Joseph 
Sharpe was the first shoemaker and the first constable. He lived on the lot 
now occupied by the National Bank of Brookville. 

The first assessment for the county was made for the year 1807, and was 
as follows : 

Joseph Barnett, one hundred acres of land, distillery, one horse, and five 
cows; total valuation, $329. 

John Dixon, weaver, one horse and one cow ; total valuation, $66. 

E. M. Graham (no property assessed). 

Joseph Hutchison, one horse, but no valuation. 

Peter Jones, blacksmith, one hundred acres of land, one horse and two 
cows ; total valuation, $195- 

John Jones, one horse and one cow; total valuation, $61. 

Moses Knapp, two horses and one cow; total valuation, $108. 

Thomas Lucas, grist- and saw-mill, two horses and two cows; total 
valuation, $499. 

William Lucas, tailor, one cow ; total valuation, $19. 

Samuel Lucas, three cows ; total valuation, $59. 

Ludwick Long, distillery, two horses and one cow; total valuation, $185. 

Jacob Mason, one cow ; valuation, $14. 

Alexander McCoy, three cows ; total valuation, $54. 

John Roll, carpenter, two horses and two cows ; total valuation, $132. 

Samuel Scott, miller, one hundred acres of land, saw- and grist-mill, 
four horses and five cows ; total valuation, $600. 

John Scott, one hundred acres of land, two horses and two cows; total 
valuation, $222. _ 

Jacob Vastbinder (single man), one hundred acres of land, one horse; 
total valuation, $247. 

William Vastbinder, one hundred acres of land, one horse and three 
cows; total valuation, $201. 

552 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Adam Vastbinder, one hundred acres of land, two horses and two cows ; 
total valuation, $222. 

John Vastbinder (single man) ; total valuation, $100. 

Taxables, twenty; land taxed, seven hundred acres; grist- and saw- 
mills, two; horses, twenty-three; cows, thirty-five; aggregate valuation, 
$3313. Samuel Scott seemed to be the richest man in the county, with a total 
valuation of $600. 

The pioneer settlers in what is now Punxsutawney were Dr. John W. 
Jenks and Elijah Heath, in the spring of 1818. The pioneer log cabin was 
erected for and by Dr. John W. Jenks, who was the pioneer physician. He 
was a graduate of Pennsylvania University in 1816. He kept open house 
and free entertainment for years. The pioneer minister was the Rev. David 
Barclay, in 1818 (Presbyterian). 

The town was laid out as a white man's town by Rev. Barclay, in 1821, 
and the plot recorded in Indiana County. The present public square was a 
gift by him to the people. The Rev. Barclay and Mr. Jenks built a saw-mill 
on Elk Run, in 1824. The pioneer white male child born in what is now 
Punxsutawney was Phineas W. Jenks. The pioneer white female child was 
Cornelia Gaskill. The pioneer cemetery was what is known as the old grave- 
yard, the land for which was donated by Messrs. Jenks and Barclay. Pioneer 
interment, Hugh McKee, in 1821. 

Other early settlers were Charles C. Gaskill, James E. Cooper, Isaac 
P. Carmalt, J. B. Henderson, John Hess, William Campbell, Thomas Mc- 
Kee, John R. Reece, Ephraim Bear, William Davis, George R. Slaysman, 
John Drum, and James St. Clair. 

The pioneer store was opened by Charles R. Barclay, in 1820. The sec- 
ond by Dr. Jenks, in 1830. 

Punxsutawney was made a borough February 25, 1850. 

The pioneer hotel was opened in a log house by Adam Weaver, in 18 — . 
This tavern stood a little east of where Joseph Shields's drug-store now 
(1902) stands. Weaver had no license until in the thirties. 

The pioneer hotel that was licensed was the Eagle, now known as the 
City Hotel, kept by Elijah Heath, in 1822, and Elizabeth Winslow and Joseph 
Long, in 1829. Other early tavern-keepers were James St. Clair, Isaac Keck, 
William and James Campbell, and John McCoy. 

Pioneer lawyer, David Barclay, December, 1849. Pioneer law student, 
Phineas W. Jenks, in 1852-54. 

The pioneer church was built of hewed logs in 1826. It was Presby- 
terian. The pioneer school-house for that locality was built about 1823. 

In 1832 Punxsutawney contained fifteen dwellings, two taverns, one 
church, one school-house, Barclay & Jenks's store, and one doctor. 

The pioneer lodge of Odd Fellows in Punxsutawney was Mahoning 
Lodge, No. 250, I. O. O. F., and was organized May 31, 1847. 

SS3 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

OLD FOLKS' PICNIC 

David B. McConnell, one of the very oldest residents of the Beechwoods 
settlement now living, was eighty-three years of age September 24, 1904. His 
parents moved into the Beechwoods in 1832, when he was a boy of eleven 
years. They came from Centre County, over the Waterford and Susque- 
hanna turnpike, when there was an almost continuous wilderness from Cur- 
wensville to Brookville. Only two or three houses occupied the present site 
of Reynoldsville, and there were only four or five small clearings on the 
turnpike between Reynoldsville and Brookville. 

The picnic in honor of his eighty-third birthday anniversary, Thursday, 
September 29, 1904, was held in the fine grove on the farm of his son, Ray 
McConnell, on the Ridgway road, nearly three miles from Brookville. Ray 
had prepared the grove for the occasion, by erecting a platform, placing seats, 
putting up nice tables, and providing chairs for the old people to sit on. We 
have seldom seen such comfortable arrangements. 

Had rain not threatened, a big crowd would have been present. As it 
was, about a hundred and fifty people, a large number of them elderly per- 
sons, but still a good many young folks, were in attendance. 

A splendid dinner was furnished, nearly all those who came bringing 
well-filled baskets with them, and everything was enjoyed in common. There 
was enough and to spare. After dinner a meeting was organized by electing 
J. G. Allen president, and all the men who were over eighty vice-presidents. 
Rev. A. E. Bartlett acted as secretary. Short addresses were made by Archie 
McCullough, of the Beechwoods; Dr. W. J. McKnight, of Brookville; W. 
A. Andrews, of Pine Creek, and others. Photographer Knapp was present, 
and took two or three pictures of the company. W. L. McCracken made the 
following list of persons in attendance who are sixty years old and upward. 
The list is not complete, as some who were there did not report to him : 

NAME AGE 

Mrs. Frank Kelty 61 

Mrs. C. H. Shobert 62 

Ninian Cooper 79 

James McFadden 81 

Jerry Oiler 80 

James Butler 76 

Samuel Butler 72 

A. J. Bartlett 73 

Jacob Moore 7° 

Jesse Thompson 85 

Dr. W. J. McKnight 69 

Archie McCullough 76 

Mrs. Archie McCullough 70 

Andrew Moore 72 

George Cook 87 

John Ostrander 83 

SS4 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

NAME AGE 

Robert Richards 89 

David Chitister 71 

Mrs. David Chitister 67 

David McConnell 83 

Ed. Snyder 78 

J. P. Lucas 68 

E. Perrin 68 

Mrs. W. Butler 72 

John McMurray 67 

Mrs. J. M. Pierce 67 

James Harris 72 

Perry Butler 66 

Joseph Thomas 78 

E. Weiser 71 

Mrs. J. T. Carroll 68 

E. McGarey 66 

Nelson O'Connor 71 

Wm. Kirkman 63 

Robert Matson 85 

C. H. Shobert 62 

W. A. Andrews 72 

Joe Ishman 75 

John Clark 80 

J. B. Jones 74 

Dr. John Thompson 70 

Dr. T. C. Lawson 61 

John Shick 66 

S. R. Milliron 60 

James L. Moore 69 

W. H. Arthurs 61 

J. G. Allen 64 

Daniel Burns 63 

J. B. Henderson 62 

Mrs. Rachel Barber 73 

Mrs. W. J. McKnight 68 

Mrs. S. Butler 65 

C. B. McGiffin 69 

T. T. Montgomery 65 

R. F. Milliron 62 

Mrs. M. L. Hinderliter 60 

M. L. Hinderliter 60 

D. S. Orr 82 

Frank Walters 69 

Wm. E. McGarey 63 

Mrs. E. Perrin 62 

Geo. McClellan 63 

Mrs. John McMurray 61 

Mr. McConnell was present, in excellent health, and enjoyed the occasion 
greatly. He was warmly greeted by all in attendance, and every one heartily 
wished him many more years of pleasant life. 

557 



•v^d »i»}i » 1 ^i »v*}d ^^d *y^* »Y>*)d e^d *i*)i 
1 feU j»M* 4M* ^k .»>cL*. mm jM* »/Af: •/A* 

QA&9 QV&9 ?CT>* 9U9 9U9 9^9 ?W^ Q%&9 9^h3 



CHAPTER XXX11 



LAWRENCE COUNTY — WHEN ERECTED — COUNTY SEAT LOCATED — PIONEER 
. RT. SETTLERS. OFFICERS. MAILS. ROAPS. SCHOOLS. BOROUGHS, 
CHURCHES. AND PREACHER REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER SETTLERS 

Lawrence County was erected out of portions of Beaver and Mercer 
Counties, by an act of Assembly, approved March jo. 1S40. the organiza- 
tion to take place September 1. 1S40. William Evans, of Indiana County. 
William F. Packer, of Lycoming, and William Potter, of Mifflin, were ap- 
pointed commissioners to mn and mark the boundary lines. Mr. Packer did 
not attend, and his place was supplied by James Potter, of Centre County. 
Henry Pearson. Esq.. of Xew Castle, was the surveyor who performed the 
work of running the boundaries. The county is bounded north and south 
by the counties from which it is taken (Mercer and Beaver), east by Butler, 
and west by the Ohio line. Xew Castle was selected as the count}- seat. 

The county was named after Perry's flagship in the battle of Lake Erie. 
which was named in honor of Captain Tames Lawrence. U.S.N., whose 
brilliant naval career was terminated by his obstinate defence of die frigate 
[ esapeake" against the British ship " Shannon." in which conflict Law- 
rence was mortall; funded, and heroically uttered, as they carried him 
below, the memorable words. " Don't give up the shif!" 

Like most of the counties west of the Allegheny River and north of 
the Ohio, it was settled chiefly by the Scotch-Irish, or the descendants of 
that race, who migrated from the older counties of Western Pennsylvania. 
the eastern counties, and some directly from Ireland itself. Cumberland, 
Franklin. Westmoreland. Fayette, and Washington furnished the greater 
number: but some came from other counties, and a few from the States of 
Delaware. Maryland, and Virginia. A considerable German element also 
- uced. and constituted a valuable portion of the population. 

whilst a few of English and Dutch ancestry came from Xew "Jersey. 

Xew Castle is the county seat, and is one of the most flourishing towns 
west of Pittsburg in the State. It was laid out in 1S02, by- a Mr. J. C. 
Stewart, who came to this locality. April. 170S. from the neighborhood of 
Xew Castle, in Delaware, and the name was probably given in honor of that 

Swedish town. 

The population of Lawrence County when organized was 21.079 people, 
including- one hundred and thirty-two colored people. The population of 

53S 



"en> s? 5g ' M//e$ 3 76 Acre 5 2.4-0^>Jir> 




/ 



OUTL//VE V»fA f- /•£ 5"O n 

B E A V 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

New Castle at that time was 1614, including fifty-one colored people. The 
pioneer election was held in the fall of 1849. The pioneer court was held 
in Lawrence County in the First Methodist Episcopal Church, in New Castle, 
on Monday, January 7, 1850. It was presided over by Hon. John Bredin, 
assisted by Hon. Jacob Bear. 

The attorneys admitted at that term, belonging to Lawrence County, 
were Jonathan Ayres, L. L. McGuffin, J. K. Boyd, David Craig, Lewis 
Taylor, W. P. Buchanan, D. B. Kurtz, J. Hoffman, D: C. Cossitt, John M. 
Crawford, Geo. W. Watson, John N. McGuffin, and James Pollock. Attor- 
neys were also present and admitted to practice from Beaver, Butler, Mercer, 
and Indiana Counties. 

The court-house was not completed ready for occupancy until 1852, the 
contract for which had been let August, 1850, to Messrs. James M. Craig and 
William Hamilton for the sum of twelve thousand dollars. 

The county at its organization was divided into thirteen townships. 

The first white settlers after the Moravians came to Mahoning Town- 
ship in 1793. When this region was first settled the roads were Indian trails. 

The State of Pennsylvania, as early as 1805, appointed viewers to lay 
out and establish roads, then and now known as State roads. One of the 
earliest through this section ran from Scrubgrass, in Venango County, by the 
way of New Castle, to Youngstown, Ohio. 

So far as this history will relate, New Castle comprises most of its 
history. 

John Elliott erected the pioneer grist-mill in New Castle, in 1800. 

Deer, wolves, bears, panthers, and rattle-snakes existed innumerable in 
and around New Castle. 

The pioneer store was opened by Joseph Townsend, Jr., in a log cabin, 
in 1800. 

The first death in New Castle was in 1802, — a daughter of William 
McComb. 

The pioneer post-office was established in 1812. The pioneer postmaster 
was Joseph T. Boyd. Before 1812 the mail was obtained at Beaver. 

The pioneer fire companv was organized on the 29th day of September, 
1836. 

In 1840 New Castle contained 611 inhabitants. In 1850, the census gave 
New Castle Borough 1563, fifty-one of whom were colored. 

The pioneer telegraph office was opened in the summer of 1849. 

In 1806 New Castle contained but twenty houses. 

New Castle was made a borough on the 25th day of March, 1825. 

In 18 1 3 New Castle had about thirty log buildings, and one hundred and 
fifty population. 

Joseph Thompson started the first tannery in 1805. 

Isaac Jones opened a shop for the manufacture of hats in 1805. 
36 561 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

fhe pioneer linseed oil-mill was opened in 1841-4J by the Griswolds. 

James D. White completed the ."Etna Iron-Works in the fall of 1838. 

Joseph S. White started the planing-mill about 1840. 

In iSoi, in Sandy Lake Township, Joseph Alexander had one mulatto 
slave man. 

In 1810 Arthur Chenowith. of Virginia, eame to New Castle, then 
Mereer. now Lawrenee County. Pennsylvania, bringing with him one negro 
man. a slave. — to wit. " Black Jack." 

In 1840 Pay says. — 
New Castle is located at the junction of Shenango and Neshannoek 
Creeks, sixteen miles southwest from Mereer. and twenty-four miles from 
the confluence of the Beaver and Ohio Rivers. It was laid out about the 
year 1800: in 1800 it contained about twenty houses. Its population in 1840 
was oil. The surrounding' country is well adapted for the growth of wheat 
and wool. Its healthy and picturesque situation has been much admired by 
visitors. 

* The Pennsylvania Canal, which is to connect Lake Erie with the Ohio 
River, passes through the town, and when completed will open another chan- 
nel for the rich productions of the neighborhood. Iron ore is found in abun- 
dance for fifteen miles around ; on the run near the town a furnace is being 
built, and a rolling-mill and nail factory in town. Bituminous coal, fire-clay, 
and quartz suitable for making glass exist in abundance in the neighboring 
hills. The water-power of the Neshannoek and Shenango is immense : and, 
if all brought into use. must create a large manufacturing town. At three 
different points, powers may be created with a sufficiency of water, and from 
sixteen to twenty-eight feet fall. The town is passing the second stage in 
improvement, from frame buildings to brick. There are here Presbyterian, 
Seeeder. and Methodist Churches, and a ' Protestant Methodist' Church is 
organized." 

The Erie Canal was completed from New Castle to Erie in February, 
^ - 

The court-house was commenced in 1850 and cc>mpleted in 1852. 

The village of Croton was settled by William Crow, from Bucks County. 
Pennsylvania, about 1840. It now forms a part of the city. 

The first regular preacher in charge of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
in Croton was the Rev. John Graham, the boy preacher. 

Wampum Borough was first settled by Robert and John Davidson in 
March. 1700. Wampum was made a borough February 10. 1870. 

Clinton was laid out by James Davidson in 1830. 

Newburg was settled about 170S by Bryce McGeehan. 

Ennon Valley (old town) was laid out and lots sold in 1838 by Enoch 
Marvin. 

The use of tokens was discontinued at communion seasons in 1867. 

5 _' 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

The first settler in what is now the village of Pulaski was Daniel Ault, 
in 1800. 

The village of Princeton was laid out by John Randolph in March, 1841. 

The village of Rose Point was settled about 1803 by Mr. Stickle. 

Parkstown was settled in the fall of 1800, by a colony from Virginia, 
consisting of William Park and others. 

Fayetteville was laid out into thirty lots, and sold at auction February 8, 
1828. William Mays was the first settler. 

The oldest church organizations were the Old School Presbyterian and 
the United Presbyterian, both of which were introduced into the countv about 
1800. 

The pioneer Baptist Church was organized in 1842, and the one in New 
Castle in 1843. The Catholics held services in what is now Lawrence County 
in 183 1. The first organization in New Castle was about 1850. The Lu- 
therans organized in New Castle in 1848. 

The first discovery of coal was made by John Stockman, in Big Beaver 
Township, in 1810. 

The agitation for the creation of Lawrence County began as earlv as 
1820, and was persistently agitated until the spring of 1849, when it was 
made a success. 

The Beaver division of the Pennsylvania Canal was completed to five 
miles above New Castle in November, 1833, and was open for business. 
The pioneer boat was the " General Mercer." This was exclusively a 
passenger boat. 

MAIL FACILITIES 

In the autumn of 1836 the mail arrangements were as follows : 

ARRIVALS 

From Beaver — Mondays and Thursdays, at eleven a.m. 
From Mercer — Tuesdays and Fridays, at eleven a.m. 
From Zelienople — Thursdays at noon. 
From Poland, Ohio — Fridays, at ten a.m. 
From New Bedford — Fridays, at eleven a.m. 

DEPARTURES 

For Beaver — Tuesdays and Fridays, at noon. 
For Mercer — Mondays and Thursdays, at noon. 
For Zelienople — Thursdays, at one p.m. 
For Poland — Thursdays, at one p.m. 
For New Bedford — Fridays, at one p.m. 

Joseph T. Boyd. P. M. 
565 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

In 1841 there were in New Castle one Seceder, one Methodist Episcopal, 
one Presbyterian, and one Protestant Methodist Church, and three Sabbath- 
schools. 

August 22, 1849, President Zachary Taylor and Governor Johnston, of 
Pennsylvania, visited the town on their way to Beaver; this incident was 
the cause of great merry-making. 

The pioneer barber was Thomas D. Berry, a colored man. 

The pioneer market in New Castle was held in 1846. 

The pioneer daguerrean gallery was established in 1847 by Richmond 
& Pomeroy. 

" The first schools of which we have any knowledge were taught in 
private houses. These will date as early as the year 1800. A school-house 
was built near Harlansburg, and another in Little Beaver Township, in 1800. 
These were the first houses built for school purposes. James Boyles was, 
perhaps, the first teacher in the latter place, and Cornelius Stafford in the 
former. Stafford is mentioned as an Englishman, who made teaching a busi- 
ness. He taught in different parts of the county. Houses were built and 
schools taught, in 1802-03, in New Bedford, in Pulaski Township ; in North 
Beaver, near the present location of Westfield Church ; also in the north- 
eastern part of the county, Washington and Plain Grove Townships. James 
Walker was among the first teachers in the vicinity of New Bedford. He 
taught in a log building erected by the Presbyterian Church, and afterwards 
in his own house. He is spoken of as a good teacher in the early schools, 
and continued in the work a number of years. George Monteith was one of 
the first teachers in the neighborhood of Pulaski, in 1804-05. About this 
time, houses were built and schools in operation in Perry Township, south- 
eastern part of the county. Some of the early teachers were Samuel Sterritt, 
John Hines, and, later, Andrew Elliott. Schools were opened in Quaker- 
town, in the western part of the county, in 1806-07 ; also, in Shenango Town- 
ship, near Moravia, now Taylor Township ; John Gallagher was one of the 
first teachers. Near the same date, 1806-07, James Leslie taught in North 
Beaver. Sampson Dilworth and Joshua Hartshorn, in what is now Little 
Beaver Township. John Byers, near Pulaski. John Gibson taught in She- 
nango Township, in one of the first school-houses, and was considered a 
successful teacher. A house was built as early as 1806-07, on the Lindall 
farm, and William Arnold was the first teacher. The first school-house in 
the present limits of Washington Township was built in the fall of 1803, on 
the Jordan farm, west of the present residence of Henry Jordan. Joseph 
Campbell was the first teacher. There were about twenty-five pupils, many 
of whom came a distance of several miles to attend school. Another house 
was built in 1807, and John Mitchell was the first teacher. The first school 
in Union Township was in 1806, in what is called Parkstown. A man by 
the name of Shearer was the first teacher. A school-house, southwest of 

566 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Princeton, in Slippery Rock Township, was built about 1808; and another 
on the Young farm, in 1810-11. A man by the name of Lewis was one of 
the early teachers. In the northern part of the county, the earliest schools 
were in private dwellings, about 1812-13. In what is now Neshannock Town- 
ship, Miss Sarah De Wolf was the first teacher, and she appears to have been 
successful. A school was afterwards opened on the King farm, and James 
Galbreath taught several years. A house was erected a short distance east 
of King's Chapel, and Samuel Richards taught in 1823, and for some time 
after this. Houses were built and schools opened in different parts about 
this time. In Wilmington, school-houses were built in 18 10, or near that 
time. Some of the early teachers were Master McCready and Hugh Watson. 

" Hon. Thomas Pomeroy taught several terms ; Dr. Popino also was a 
teacher for several years. 

" Hon. William M. Francis, who was a member of the State Senate, 
was a member of the school board for over fifteen years, and also examined 
the teachers of the township during the same length of time. Most of the 
early teachers were males, and the schools were open for about three months 
in the winter. 

" The schools were supported by subscription, each scholar paid so much 
per month or quarter. Often pupils had to travel along paths two and three 
miles to reach the nearest school. 

" All the houses were built of logs, and most of them had a large fire- 
place, in which wood was burned, and this fuel was prepared by the patrons 
and older pupils. A part or whole log was cut out of the building, and over 
this opening greased paper was pasted to give light. Houses were floored 
with puncheons, and seats were made of slabs. These kind of houses were 
generally in use until the adoption of the present school law, when more and 
better houses were built. The branches taught in these schools were spelling, 
reading, writing, and arithmetic. The books used were few, the Bible as 
a text-book in reading; for advanced classes the spelling-book and arithmetic. 

" The authentic history of the early schools of New Castle is very 
meagre, and can only be learned from the old residents, whose memory of 
many of the events, so far in the past, must necessarily, in many instances, 
be very indistinct. 

" The earliest schools were supported by subscription, and were taught 
in private houses. According to the most reliable information, the first school 
was taught by one Robert Dickey, and was opened about the year 1804. The 
next teacher was John Dickey, a younger brother of Robert. 

" The name of Richard Shearer is mentioned as the third teacher. About 
the year 1806 the fourth teacher, Joseph Thornton, came here from Cham- 
bersburg, Franklin County; his abiding faith in the use of the birch is the 
principal characteristic remembered by his historian. Next on the roll of 
early teachers appears the name of Alexander Duncan. After him we find 

567 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

the name of Miss Sarah De Wolf, said to have been the first regular female 
teacher of a New Castle school. 

" Matthew Calvin is enrolled as the next teacher. He appeared upon 
the scene about 1814, and taught in a house on Beaver Street, nearly oppo- 
site the residence of Joseph Justice, Esq. 

" The borough of New Castle was incorporated March 25, 1825, and 
originally embraced all the territory now constituting the first and second 
wards of the present city, except that portion lying south of County Line 
Street, in the point between the Neshannock and Shenango Creeks, which 
was taken into the borough at some subsequent period. 

" About this time a frame house, the first building erected exclusively 
for school purposes, was built upon the lot belonging to the First Presbyterian 
Church, now the " Old Brewery." Our history informs us, however, that 
the first house used for school purposes was a log cabin, about eighteen feet 
square, situated near the spring, at the base of ' Shaw's Hill.' " — School Re- 
port, 18; 7. 

The first regular doctor who settled in New Castle and in Lawrence 
County was Dr. John Dickey. 

George P. Shaw was the first lawyer in New Castle. 

REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS 

" North Beaver Tozvusliip. — William McCord, James Alsworth, Francis 
Nesbit, William Carson, John Coleman, Jacob Justice, and Jeremiah Bannon 
were all out for some length of time during the Revolution, some of them 
for several years. 

Perry Tozvusliip. — Matthew Murray, Matthew Stewart, John Stewart. 

Plain Grove Tozvusliip. — John Gealey, James Ramsey. 

Pulaski Tozvusliip. — James Stevenson. 

Scott Tozvusliip. — Colonel Bernard Hubley, William Locke. 

Shenango Tozvusliip. — William Tindall. 

Washington Tozvusliip. — Henry Gordon, 1st. 

Taylor Tozvusliip. — John Butcher, Joseph McMurray, "' Scotch John 
Moore," a deserter from the British army. 

Neshannock Tozvusliip. — John Moore, William Richards. 

Mahoning Tozvusliip. Ashton. 

New Castle. — Captain Jonathan Smith. 




CHAPTER XXXIII 



M'KEAN COUNTY FORMATION OF COUNTY — LOCATION OF COUNTY SEAT 

OFFICERS ROADS PIONEER SETTLERS INDIAN NAMES OF STREAMS — 

HUNTERS — SLAVES HARDSHIPS — LANDS, ETC. 

McKean County was separated from Lycoming County by the act of 
March 26, 1804. It was named in honor of Governor Thomas McKean. Pre- 
vious to 1814 the county was for a time attached to Centre County, and the 
records were kept at Bellefonte. In 1814 McKean was attached to Lycoming 
for judicial and elective purposes. The counties of McKean and Potter were 
then as formerly united, having one treasurer, one board of commissioners, 
and one board of auditors. The commissioners held their meetings at the 
house of Benjamin Bents, on the Allegheny River, and a little east of the 
county line. 

Hon. W. O. Smith says, — 

" The Allegheny is a beautiful river, with a volume of water sufficient 
to carry the commerce of an empire, well confined within its banks and lined 
on either side with vast stores of mineral wealth, consisting of coal, iron, lime- 
stone, fire-clay, glass-sand rock, and building stone. This magnificent stream, 
three hundred miles in length, with a watershed of nearly ' twelve thousand 
square miles, an average width of about twelve hundred feet, and discharging 
at low stage seventy-five thousand cubic feet of water per minute, courses 
through a country rich in mineral resources, where the business energies of 
man have reached their highest development." 

McKean County is situated on the northern border of the State, being the 
third county seat from the west line thereof. It has a length on the State 
line of nearly forty miles, and a depth of about twenty-five miles, containing 
about one thousand square miles. 

The population of the county in 1810 was 142; in 1820, 728; in 1830, 
1439; in 1840, 2975. 

CERES ROAD 

In 1825 the Ceres road, a State road, afterwards incorrectly called the 
Serious road, was laid out from Ceres, McKean County, near the New York 
State line, through Smethport and what is now Reynoldsville, to the town of 
Indiana, in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. It was completed in 1828. 

I now quote from Day's " Historical Collections :" 

" The great east and west State road, opened in 1816-18, runs from 

S69 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Kenjua, on the Allegheny, through the centre of the county to Coudersport 
and Wellsborough. Another road, opened in 1827-29, runs from Smethport, 
through Caledonia and Karthauss, to Milesburg, near Bellefonte; another, 
by way of Coudersport, to Jersey Shore, in Lycoming County. 

" The greater part of this county is, and has been for many years, owned 
in immense tracts by gentlemen residing in the lower part of the State, and 
by the Holland Land Company. The principal individual owners are Messrs. 
John Keating & Co., Richards and Jones, and the heirs of William Bingham 
and Jacob Ridgway, of Philadelphia, James Trimble, Esq., of Harrisburg, 
and B. B. Cooper, Esq., of New Jersey. These gentlemen have done much 
by their enterprise and capital toward opening roads and establishing schools 
in the county. Most of them have agents in the county, from whom their 
lands may be purchased at from one dollar to three dollars per acre, with 
a credit of from five to ten years, payable by instalments. 

" Smethport, the county seat, a pleasant town, is situated on the left 
bank of Potato Creek, where the great east and west road crosses, and at 
the confluence of Marvin Creek. It contains the court-house, substantially 
built of brick, an academy, a Methodist church, and two Congregational 
societies who attend service in the public buildings ; two printing-offices, 
seven stores, three taverns, grist-mill, saw-mill, and clothing-mill. The 
following facts relating to the early settlement of this place, and of others 
in the county, are derived from a communication in Hazard's Register for 
1832, by O. J. Hamlin, Esq. 

" ' Smethport was laid out under the superintendence of John Bell, 
Thomas Smith, and John C. Brevost, in 1807. The first house was erected 
by Captain Arnold Hunter, in 181 1; another was built in 1812; but both 
abandoned in 1814. No permanent settlement was commenced until 1822. 
About this time the first county commissioners were elected, and held their 
office in a small building erected by Dr. Eastman, at the lower part of the 
town plot. The first commissioners were Rensselaer Wright and Jonathan 
Colegrove, for McKean, and John Taggart, for Potter County ; Joseph Otto, 
treasurer. This county was organized for judicial purposes in 1826; and the 
first county court was held in September of that year. The court-house, a 
respectable brick building, was erected this year. At this time there were but 
about half a dozen dwelling-houses. A weekly mail arrives here from the 
north, the east, the southeast, the south, and west; and a stage commenced 
running to Coudersport, thence to Jersey Shore, or to Wellsborough. By 
the Legislature an appropriation of two thousand dollars was made for an 
academy at Smethport. Several years ago John Keating, Esq., gave five 
hundred dollars^and one hundred and fifty acres of land adjoining the village, 
as a donation toward such an institution, and individuals of McKean County 
have subscribed rising of five hundred dollars for that purpose. These 
amounts have been vested in productive funds. 



> 

3D 




HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Several years previous to 1810 the first settlement commenced in the 
county began. A Mr. King, an enterprising English gentleman, with several 
friends of his from England, settled on the Oswaya Creek, in Ceres Town- 
ship, twenty-five miles from Smethport. There is now a flourishing settle- 
ment here, and some of the oldest orchards are in that neighborhood. This 
neighborhood is usually called King's settlement. 

" ' The first settlers of this county suffered great inconveniences ; so 
much greater than those of the present day that there is scarce a comparison. 
They found here a dense wilderness, without a road, or an inhabitant, save 
the beasts of the forest, some of which were of a very ferocious character, 
while others served as a slender support to those who practised hunting. The 
first settlement of which I have a correct account was made by six families 
from the State of New York, who came on about the same time, and located 
on Potato Creek, from three to seven miles north of Smethport, in 1810. 
They had great difficulty in getting to their new homes, having to bring their 
families and goods up the stream in canoes. There was no settlement within 
many miles of them; and they were even obliged for a time to bring their 
provisions in by canoes or on pack-horses. All kinds of eatables were very 
dear, even at the nearest settlements. This settlement suffered many priva- 
tions; but those settlers are now well compensated, for they are the owners 
of flourishing farms, and are themselves in a prosperous condition. It is 
usually known by the name of the lower settlement. 

" ' Norwich settlement, lying along the Potato Creek, commencing about 
four miles southeast from Smethport, and extending up that stream, was com- 
menced in 1815, when fourteen families came on, having exchanged their 
property in Norwich, Chenango County, New York, with Messrs. Cooper, 
Mcllvain & Co., for those lands where they now reside, being then an entire 
wilderness. Having no roads, they were obliged to ascend the Potato Creek, 
with much labor and expense, in canoes, with their families and movables. 
They were under much embarrassment for the first year or two, for want of 
roads and provisions ; and were often obliged to get their provisions, grain, 
etc., in Jersey Shore, a distance of more than one hundred miles, on pack- 
horses. Corn was worth, when got here, two dollars per bushel, and salt 
was sold for fourteen dollars per barrel. This settlement went on vigorously, 
and in two or three years raised more than sufficient for their own consump- 
tion. It is now in a flourishing situation. 

" ' A settlement had been commenced at Instanter, four miles west of 
the Norwich settlement, a short time previous to the latter; and in 1821 or 
1822 four hundred acres of land were cleared on one farm, belonging to 
Tacob Ridgwav, Esq., under the superintendence of P. E. Scull, who has 
always been an active man in furthering the improvement of this county. 
Judge Bishop, now one of our associate judges, was the first settler at that 
place. Since those settlements were formed, others have been commenced 

573 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

and carried on in different parts of the county. The townships of Bradford 
and Corydon have within the last three years been rapidly increasing. 

" ' In 1831 the manufacture of salt was commenced by Messrs. Allen 
Rice & Co., at a salt spring in the southeastern part of Sergeant Township. 
The operations were found quite favorable, and large boiling works erected. 
Salt was made of an excellent quality, and the water found to bear a good 
per cent.' 

" Port Allegheny is on the Allegheny River, ten miles east of Smeth- 
port, near the confluence of the Portage branch. The Canoe Place is about 
two miles above. It was here that the early settlers of Warren County came 
about the year 1795, constructed a canoe, and floated down to the mouth of 
the Conewango. 

" Bradford is a small village recently started in the forks of Tunenguant, 
on land purchased from the United States Land Company, better known as 
the Boston Company. 

" Ceres, formerly King's settlement, is a smart and flourishing village, 
inhabited by New York and Yankee lumbermen, on Oswaya Creek, in the 
northeastern corner of the county. It contains a Methodist church, several 
stores, mills, etc. 

" Teutonia is the name of the new German town, situated on the right 
bank of Stanton Creek, five miles southwest of Smethport. This town is the 
property of ' The Society of Industry.' It was started in March, 1843, on 
the plan and by the enterprise of Mr. Henry Ginal, a German now residing 
in Philadelphia, and agent of the Society. It contains at present about four 
hundred and fifty inhabitants. A school-house is built, but no church. Some 
seventy or eighty log houses have been erected, besides a steam saw-mill, a 
large tannery, and a store furnished with every article necessary for food 
and clothing. The Society is in possession of forty thousand acres of land, 
a considerable part of which is already cleared, and they keep from forty 
to fifty hands at chopping, all of them members of the Society. Excellent 
bituminous coal, iron ore, limestone, brick-clay, etc., abound on the lands. 
The soil is generally of good quality. The Society is founded on the prin- 
ciple of community of property, money and furniture excepted, and is sus- 
tained by the co-operation of its members ; an equal distribution of the profits 
being made half-yearly. In its fundamental principles it differs from Fourier's 
system. The Society has about forty thousand dollars capital ; some sixteen 
thousand dollars of which is invested in land. This stock is divided into six 
hundred and sixty shares, of which three hundred and sixty are already sold. 
When the balance is sold the number will be limited, and shareholders will 
be admitted only by buying out others. The shares are now worth about 
two hundred dollars ; originally they were only worth one hundred dollars, 
but have risen with the improvements. The land is divided into several 
districts ; in the centre of each there is to be a town, with houses built in 

574 




gyOaM/*-*' ■ &■ .'-'""X z '/?- 



Paul Darling, born in Smethport, November 5, 1823, school-master, financier, 
philanthropist, now deceased 



L^ 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

uniform style, and the stables and barns will be outside of the village. Mar- 
riage is not only allowed, but encouraged, and each family resides in its 
separate house, possessing its own furniture and money. Clothing of a plain 
and uniform kind, provisions, fuel, etc., are regularly distributed by rations 
from the society's common stores. An individual becomes a member by pur- 
chasing a share of stock, going on the ground, and working with the rest. 
The society will build him a house if married ; or furnish him or her with a 
lodging if single. Children, when grown up, become members by conforming 
to the rules of the Society. Married women are not obliged to work for the 
community, but devote their attention to the care of their own families." 

" Near Port Allegheny the earliest settlers were Judge Samuel Stanton, 
Jonathan Foster, and Dr. Horace Coleman. Judge Stanton and Dr. Coleman 
were active and public-spirited men, did all in their power to help on the 
settlement of the country, and were highly esteemed by the then few settlers 
of the county. Judge Stanton died many years ago while absent at Belle- 
fonte upon some public business. Mr. Foster was accidentally shot by his 
son. He and his son were out hunting wolves. Each wore a wolf-skin cap, 
and each was ignorant of the vicinity of the other. It was the custom with 
wolf-hunters to howl in imitation of the wolf, and thus decoy their prey to 
within rifle-shot. After being out some time one howled ; the other, think- 
ing that he had heard a wolf, answered ; both were deceived, and each began 
cautiously to creep toward his supposed prey. A succession of calls and 
counter-calls were kept up with sufficient accuracy of imitation to keep both 
deceived as to the real character of the other. Finally, after much manoeuvring 
on both sides, and conducted after the known habits of the wolf, they ap- 
proached very near each other, when the quick eye of the younger man caught 
sight of the wolf-skin cap of the elder as he raised his head to peer over a 
log, and he instantly fired. What must have been the feelings of that son 
as he walked triumphantly up to his prey, and found lying before him, not 
the body of the savage wolf, but that of his dying father! Could life be 
sufficiently long or busy to eradicate that scene from his memory? Dr. Cole- 
man lived to ripe old age, and died respected by all, and surrounded by a 
large family, who do ample credit to the efforts of their sire in their behalf." 
— Egle's History of Pennsylvania. 

The pioneer court held in McKean County was presided over by Hon. 
Edward Herrick, on September 25, 1826. The Associates were Joseph Otto 
and Joel Bishop. The court was held in the court-house, which had been 
completed. The jail was in process of erection at that time, and was com- 
pleted soon after. Up to that time the courts of McKean County had been 
held in Coudersport, Potter County. 

The prominent pioneer hunters were Eben Burbanks, Samuel Beckwith, 
Daniel Corneline, Rufus Cory, Ralph Hill, Nathan White, Henry Willard, 
Arthur Young, and Stephen Young. 

37 577 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

The first coal found in the county was at Instanter, in 1815. Prior to 
1840 wild lands were assessed at fifty cents per acre. Asylum Peters was 
born at what is now the city of Bradford in 1793. He was a negro slave, 
sold to William Ayres for one hundred dollars, who moved to Potter County 
in 1808. Peters's father and mother must have been slaves in what is now 
McKean County. 

The pioneer physician was Dr. George Darling at Smethport, in 1827. 

The pioneer school was at Instanter, in 1809. 

Indian names for streams were, Kinzua, fish ; Tunnanguant, bull-frog ; 
Nien-un-dah, potato creek. Marvin Creek took its name from the pioneer 
who settled on its banks. The second story of the pioneer court-house was 
used for religious services until after 1830. Up to that date there was not 
a church structure in the county. 

The panther-hunters in 1827 were Joseph Silverkeel, an Indian, Dan. 
Killbuck, an Indian, Simon Beckwith, William and Dan. Lewis, and Ralph 
Hill. Panthers were killed years after this, but not so many. 

The first mention of petroleum oil in history was by Herodotus, four 
hundred and forty years before Christ. The Cuba Oil Spring in New York 
was discovered July 18, 1627. In 1806 Nathaniel Carey established a busi- 
ness on Oil Creek, Venango County. In 1819 John Gibson struck oil on the 
Conemaugh River near Georgetown, Westmoreland County, at a depth of 
two hundred and seven feet. He was boring for salt. 

The pioneer school in Smethport was in the Eastman building, in 
1823-24; Ira H. Curtis, master. The pioneer school in Port Allegheny, 
under the law of 1834, was taught by Miss Eliza Manning. 




svravd «^rav» *nd «»d ^/nd «vm^» «vrav» «v^» ff^w 
-jK» errata ew* e 1 



CHAPTER XXXIV 



MERCER COUNTY FORMATION OF COUNTY LOCATION OF COUNTY SEAT 

SETTLERS COURTS OFFICERS MAILS COUNTY ROADS DOCTORS 

INDUSTRIES SCHOOLS CHURCHES TOWNSHIPS SOLDIERS OF l8l2 

MASONRY BOROUGHS 

Mercer County is one of the range contiguous to the western boundary 
of the State. It was taken from Allegheny County by the act of March 12, 
1800. Length, thirty- two miles ; breadth, twenty-six miles; area, seven hun- 
dred and sixty-five square miles. Population in 1800, 3228; in 1810, 8277; 
in 1820, 11,681; in 1830, 19,729; in 1840, 32,873. 

Mercer County was a wilderness until several years after the passage of 
the celebrated land law of April, 1792, providing for the survey and settle- 
ment of all the lands " north and west of the Ohio and Allegheny Rivers 
and Conewango Creek." Soon after peace was restored to the frontier, in 
1795, settlements were made extensively about the southern end of Mercer 
County, in the forks of Mahoning, Shenango, and Neshannock Creeks. 

The adventures of these worthy pioneers were few, and of little general 
interest. The county was for many years retarded in its growth, and the 
actual settlers were greatly harassed by the various and conflicting titles to 
land growing out of the acts of 1785 and 1792. 

The pioneer settlers were principally Scotch-Irish, and all Presbyterians. 

" The surface of the county is undulating, but little broken, and pecu- 
liarly well watered. It is covered with springs and small streams running 
into the larger creeks. These creeks consist of the Big Shenango on the 
west, which rises in Crawford County ; Neshannock in the centre, with heads 
all over the northern central portion of the county, and Wolf Creek on the 
east. These streams all run in a southerly direction, and eventually are 
swallowed up in the Big Beaver, that empties itself into the Ohio River at 
Rochester. In addition to these there is the Little Shenango, that runs across 
a portion of the northern end of the county from east to west, rising six or 
seven miles east of the central line from south to north, and that empties 
into the Big Shenango at Greenville ; and also Sandy Creek, that takes its 
rise in Crawford County, and, running diagonally through the northeast 
quarter, empties itself into the Allegheny River about twelve miles below 
Franklin. Sandy Lake, a sheet of water about a mile and a half long and 
half a mile wide, situated near the centre of the northeast quarter of the 

579 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

county, discharges its surplus water into Sandy Creek. The character of its 
general surface, its bountiful supply of water, and richness of soil was well 
calculated to make it the foremost agricultural county in this part of the 
State ; nor has it disappointed the anticipations of its early settlers, for it is 
now not only a fine agricultural, but a heavy and prosperous mining and iron 
county, notwithstanding that it lost nearly a fourth of its territory in the 
erection of Lawrence County. 

The territory comprising Mercer County was filled with Indians and 
wild animals before the white man's advent, and for several years after. The 
Indians were Senecas and popularly called Cornplanters. They lived by 
hunting and fishing. 

There were three large Indian towns, one where Mercer is now, con- 
taining seventy lodges ; one at the big bend, and the other at Pine Swamp, 
what is now Jackson Township. 

About 1804 a noted hunter, James Jeffers, entered this region. " There 
are a number of incidents related concerning his hostility to the Indian race, 
which had been aroused on account of the cruelty with which some of his 
relatives had been treated by the savages. Whether these are true or not 
cannot now be determined. They belong, however, to the folk-lore of the 
county, and as such deserve recital. It is said that on one occasion, while 
roaming through the forest, he suddenly met two Indians. They instinctively 
knew him to be a foe, and both at once dodged behind the cover of friendly 
trees. Jeffers perceived that the contest of one against two would be an 
unequal one, if carried on squarely, so he resorted to artifice to overcome 
the odds. Taking off his cap he placed it over the muzzle of his rifle, and 
exposed it, apparently incautiously, to the view of his antagonists. This had 
the desired effect. Thinking it was his head which they saw, one of them 
instantlv shot and sent a ball through the empty cap. Jeffers dropped the 
cap to the ground, giving a death-like groan as he did so. The two Indians 
at once sprang from cover, and were rushing forward to secure the scalp 
of their supposed victim, when the latter stepped forth, cocked his rifle and 
prepared to shoot. He was at first at a loss to know which of the two had 
the loaded rifle, but perceiving one of them lift his weapon to his shoulder, 
he surmised that he was the dangerous foe, and accordingly shot him. The 
remaining savage sprang forward with a huge knife and engaged in a hand 
to hand conflict, but the superior cunning of the white man caused victory 
to perch on his side. As the savage was about to make a final thrust, Jeffers 
deflected the course of the knife, and it sheathed itself in the breast of the 
Indian himself, instantly killing him." 

The wild animals in what is now Mercer County were the usual kind 
that inhabited this region, and the following story will give you an idea of 
the snake inhabitants. 

About 1800, or 1803. John Johnson lived on a piece of land near the 

580 



C R A W F O 




OUT L/i\l E M A F* - / S-5-O - 
LAWR ENCE. 



/ A 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Asa Arnold farm. This farm is situated on the west of Yankee Ridge. 
Johnson's wife went out from her cabin early one morning to get her cows. 
She had not gone far until she found herself surrounded with rattlesnakes. 
They were in such numbers that she was compelled to climb a dogwood that 
stood near by. Her cries for help reached her husband, and he came to her 
relief. In excitement, he said, " Polly, I can't relieve you myself, there are 
too many snakes ;" and then running to his neighbor, Asa Arnold, he came 
back with new courage. With hickory poles, these two men cut their way 
through the snakes until Mrs. Johnson was relieved. Both men sickened in 
this work and had to rest for a time, and then go at the destruction again. 
The yellow rattlesnakes were counted and piled, two hundred in number, 
while there were many black and other snakes left on the ground uncounted. 
Some of the rattles counted as many as twenty-five. The rattlers of North- 
western Pennsylvania are the banded variety, called timber rattlers. 




Mercer, 1S43 

In the fall of the year 1806 several families came in from Westmoreland, 
Allegheny, and Washington Counties, and made an opening. The only one 
remaining over that winter was John Findley, but the others came back in 
the spring. John Findley's neighbors at that time were John Pugh, James 
Braden, John Garvin, William Alexander, Mr. Hawthorn, and Mr. Mc- 
Cullough. 

" Mercer, the county seat, is situated near the Neshannock Creek, on 
elevated ground, fifty-seven miles northwest from Pittsburg by the turnpike. 
It was laid out in 1803 by John Findley, William Mortimore, and William 
McMillan, trustees, on two hundred acres of land given to the county by 
John Hoge, of Washington County, who owned large tracts of land in the 
vicinity. The hill on which it is situated was formerly a dense hazel thicket. 
The first courts were held in an old log court-house. The court and county 
officers are now accommodated in elegant public buildings of brick, sur- 
rounded by a verdant lawn planted with trees, and enclosed bv a neat white 

583 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

fence. In 1807 there were only two or three houses in the place. In 1840 
it had a population of seven hundred and eighty-one. The dwellings are neat 
and substantial, and display a pleasing variety of architectural embellishment. 
Besides the county buildings, there are in the town an academy, Methodist, 
Union, Seceder, Old and New School Presbyterian churches, a foundry, and 
the usual stores and taverns. Daily lines of stages pass through on the 
Pittsburg and Erie turnpike. 

" West Greenville is situated in the northwestern part of the county, on 
the Shenango River, and is surrounded by large bodies of fine land. The 
Erie Extension Canal passes through the town, affording every facility to 
commerce. There are in the immediate vicinity extensive beds of iron ore 
and mines of very superior coal, which will form an important article of 
export to the lake. The rapid growth of the town, and the taste and beauty 
exhibited in its embellishments, indicate the advantages of its location. Seven 
years since the population was not more than three hundred ; it numbered 
in 1S40, six hundred and twenty-six. The Shenango River affords a very 
ample water-power, which drives several large mills, and is still not all 
occupied." — Day's Collections. 

In 1840 there were twelve churches in the count}', and special attention 
was paid to common school education. 

The public road from Pittsburg to Erie, through Mercer, Meadville, etc., 
was authorized and laid out when the territory was under the control of 
Crawford County. 

In 1817 the Mercer and Meadville Turnpike Company was chartered. In 
1 82 1 the company opened the line for general traffic. The streams of the 
county at first had to be forded, but later temporary wooden bridges were 
erected. 

BEAVER AND ERIE CANAL 

In 1822-23 the Legislature authorized a survey. In 1824 the United 
States government did the same. In 1827 the Legislature passed an act for 
the construction. Ground was broken on the French Creek feeder at Mead- 
ville, August 24, 1827, and it was completed to Conneaut Lake in 1834. 

In 1843 ninety-seven miles of the main line had been finished, and four 
million dollars had been expended on the improvement by the State. The 
work was now turned over without cost to the Erie Canal Company, and 
was finished by the company December 5, 1844, when the first two boats, the 
" Queen of the West," a passenger packet, and the " R. S. Reed," loaded 
with Mercer County coal, passed through to Erie. 

William Fruit, of Clarksville, was a pioneer in the coal business, and 
made this his first shipment of coal to Erie. The canal-boat held twenty-seven 
tons of coal. 

At Erie his new fuel was not in demand. He eventually sold it at two 
dollars per ton. 

584 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Other coal operators were General James Pierce and Rev. George 
McCleery. 

SOME PIONEER POST-OFFICES AND POSTMASTERS 

In 1806 a weekly mail was established from Pittsburg to Erie by the 
way of Mercer, — a horseback route; a semi-weekly in 1818; a tri-weekly in 
1824. 

In 1 82 1 a stage route was opened, and a daily mail line was authorized 
in 1827. 

Mercer, July 1, 1805, Cunningham S. Semple. Sharon, August 11, 1819, 
Elias Jones. Greenville, January 9, 1828, Alexander P. Waugh. James- 
town, April 3, 1833, John Williamson, Jr. Clark, July 14, 1833, John Fruit. 
New Vernon, July 20, 1837, John M. Montgomery. Perrine, February 16, 
1833, William PI. Perrine. Salem, March 6, 1832, William Leech. Sandy 
Lake, January 30, 1833, Thomas J. Brown. North Liberty, January 15, 1840, 
Robert Shaw. West Middlesex, August 30, 1839, Robert B. Young. Grove 
City, July 11, 1844, William Fleming. Centretown, January 9, 1840, John 
Tumelson. Leesburg, December 3, 1836, Arthur Johnston. London, March 
16, 1848, David Gilson. New Lebanon, December 17, 1849, James A. Leech. 

IRON FURNACES " 

In 1846 there were ten iron furnaces in Mercer County. 

The pioneer agricultural society was in existence as early as January 5, 
1828. Joseph Justice was president, Nathaniel McElevey, secretary, and 
Joseph Emery, treasurer. 

The Mercer Whig began June 15, 1844, John B. Butler, editor. In 1830 
the West Greenville Gazette was started by Richard Hill. In 1848 J. W. 
Mason started the Weekly Express. In 1852, the paper was purchased by 
the Rev. William Orvis, and was published as an antislavery educator. This 
antislavery paper was in Greenville. 

PIONEER DOCTORS 

Who the pioneer doctor was in Mercer County is not known. Among 
the early ones were Dr. Clark, the two Cossitts, Dr. Magoffin, Sr., Dr. Ma- 
goffin, Jr., and two Mehards. 

The antislavery agitation began in Mercer County about June 15, 1835, 
by the Rev. Nathaniel West and others. 

THE PIONEER JUSTICE 

Alexander Dumars was appointed justice of the peace in 1810. Allan 
Hill prosecuted Joseph Nesbit before Squire Dumars for damages done by 
Nesbit's cows to Hill's cornfield. 

" The parties to the suit appeared. Nesbit claimed that it was Hill's 

585 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

fault ; that he would not keep up a fence around his field ; that he had himself 
worked to repair and put up his fence, and had also sent hands for that 
purpose, but that Hill would do nothing to preserve his own grain. The 
Squire said, ' If that is the kind of a man Hill is, he ought to be loaded with 
powder and blown to hell.' The wily Irishman, Nesbitt, immediately said, 
' If that is the judgment of your honor, please give us an execution, and 
let us have it carried out at once.' " 

INDUSTRIES 

The pioneer industries were saw-mills, grist-mills, and whiskey distil- 
leries, built as early as 1801-02, and flaxseed oil-mills in 1812. 

A fulling-mill was erected in 1803 by Benoni Turtle. 

" In 1849 the townships of Mahoning, Neshannock, and Slippery Rock, 
together with a strip of territory of about half a mile in width taken from 
the southern sides of the townships of Springfield, Wilmington, and She- 
nango, were detached from Mercer to contribute to the erection of Lawrence 
County. In these townships were the villages of Harlansburg, New Wil- 
mington, Pulaski, New Bedford, Hillsville, Edenburg, Eastbrook, and the 
borough of New Castle, containing altogether quite a third of the population 
of the county. And thus stand the bounds of Mercer County, with its sub- 
divisions into townships in the one hundred and twelfth year of independence, 
and the eighty-eighth year of its erection as a separate county by the Legis- 
lature of Pennsylvania." 

The pioneer fire company of Mercer Borough was organized June 28, 
1S24. 

The pioneer missionary society in Mercer County held its first meet- 
ing in Mercer on June 11, 1834, Rev. Samuel Tait, president; Rev. J. L. 
Dinwiddie, secretary. It was a Presbyterian society. 

The first school-house in the borough of Mercer was a one story brick 
about twenty feet square, heated by a ten-plate stove. 

I copy the following from Egle's " History of Pennsylvania :" 

" Although declared a county by act of Assembly in 1800, for all prac- 
tical purposes it constituted a part of Crawford until February, 1804, when 
the first and second courts were held at the house of Joseph Hunter, situated 
on Mill Creek, on the mill property near Mercer, now owned by the Hon. 
William Stewart, in February and May of that year. The commission of 
Hon. Jesse Moore, as president judge of the circuit composed of the counties 
of Beaver, Butler, Mercer, Crawford, and Erie, was read ; also the com- 
missions of Alexander Brown and Alexander Wright as judges for Mercer 
County. The various commissions of John Findley ( who was the eldest son 
of the historic William Findley that was so prominent in Congress in the 
support of Thomas Jefferson') as prothonotary, clerk of the courts, etc., was 
also read ; so also that of William Byers as sheriff. James Braden as coroner. 

sS6 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

and John W. Hunter as deputy prosecuting attorney. The sheriff and coro- 
ner, as well as a board of county commissioners, consisting of Robert Bole, 
Andrew Denniston, and Thomas Robb, it is presumed were elected in October, 
1803. 

The attorneys admitted to practice at the first court were John W. 
Hunter, Joseph Shannon, C. S. Sample, S. B. Foster, A. W. Foster, Ralph 
Marlin, Edward Work, Patrick Farrelly, William Ayres, Henry Baldwin, 
and Steel Sample. The two Fosters, Farrelly, Ayres, Baldwin, and Steel 
Sample, all afterwards turned out to be men of mark and ability. 

At the second term of court, held in May, the commission of William 
Amberson as an additional judge for Mercer County was read. This gave 
three associate judges. The writer of this, who, as a little boy, occasionally 
dropped into the court-house, along between 1814 and 1820, was indelibly 
impressed with the grand dignity of the president judge. He was a heavy, 
solemn-looking man, retaining the costume of the old-style gentleman, — 
small clothes, shoe-buckles, knee-buckles, bald head, but hair long behind and 
done up in a queue, and head and hair and collar of the black coat covered 
with a white powder sprinkled thereon. He has since seen the Supreme 
Court of the United States in session. The black gowns of the judges sitting 
in a row, the low colloquial tone in which causes are argued, and the quiet- 
ness enforced certainly gave it a very dignified aspect, but still there was 
lacking the grand old powdered head and queue that gave Judge Moore the 
advantage in solemn and imposing dignity. 

It was with the funds arising from the sale of town lots that the first 
court-house, standing in the centre of the public square, was built. On the 
19th of May, 1807, John Chambers, John Leech, and William McMillan, the 
then county commissioners, contracted with Joseph Smith and John McCurdy 
for the building thereof, for the sum of seven thousand one hundred 
and sixteen dollars. It was a square brick building, two stories high, with 
wings for the offices. In 1840, there was an addition put to it to get better 
office accommodations, at a cost of about two thousand dollars. The first 
court-house and jail, however, was a log structure on the ground now oc- 
cupied by the First National Bank, the lower story for a jail being built of 
squared logs let down flat and dove-tailed at the corners, and the court-room 
above, which was reached by stairs on the outside of the building. Until this 
construction was ready for prisoners, the county prison was a room in the 
house of James Braden, which the commissioners rented and fitted up for 
that purpose. 

" The travelled route through northwestern Pennsylvania was that estab- 
lished by the French in 1752, — water communication up the Allegheny River 
to the mouth of French Creek, then up that stream to Waterford, and from 
thence by an opened road to Erie. It was this route that was followed by 
Colonel Washington in 1753, when sent by Governor Dinwiddie. of Virginia, 

587 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

to demand from the French an explanation of their designs in establishing 
military posts on the waters of the Ohio. This route left Mercer County en- 
tirely to the west, and may explain why settlements in Venango, Crawford, 
and Erie, which it traversed, preceded those formed in Mercer. There were 
no settlements made in it until after Wayne's victory over the Indians and the 
peace with them that followed in i~95- After this, in the fall of 1/95, the 
surveyors began their labors, followed closely by the first settlers. Benjamin 
Stokely now occupies the farm on which his father thus commenced the 
settlement. 

" Among the first settlers along the Shcnango were the grandfathers of 
the present generations of the Quinbys, Budds, Carnes, Beans, McKnights, 
McGranahans, Campbells, Hoaglands, Mossmans, Leeches, Fells, Hunters, 
and Christys. In the Xeshannock and Mahoning regions, the Byers, San- 
keys, Fishers, Watsons, Chenowiths, and Pearsons made their first settle- 
ment. In the centre, the Stokelys, Zahnisers, Garvins, Alexanders, Find- 
leys, Junkins. Dennistons, McCulloughs. Pews, Rambos, Coulsons, and 
Hosacks. In the southeast corner, the Roses, McMillans, Breckenridges, 
McCoys, and Courtneys. In the Sandy Lake and French Creek region, the 
Gordons, McCrackens, DeFrances, Carnahans, Browns, Carmichaels, Car- 
rols, Kilgores, Riggs. Condits. and McCloskeys. In the way of startling- 
adventure, these men were not history-makers. Their mission was to open 
up a wilderness for the use of civilized man, and secure to themselves and pos- 
terity comfortable homes. In striving to do this they underwent man}- priva- 
tions. It took time to open out fields and get them under cultivation, so that 
bread could be got without transportation on horseback from Pittsburg or 
the settlements in Washington County, and before they could provide properly 
for the keeping of their stock over winter. The first stock was only wintered 
by die felling of maple- and linwood-trees to enable the cattle to browse on 
the buds. The forest then afforded them bear meat, venison, and turkey in 
abundance, but their appetites tired of this as the only food, and " hog and 
hominy." diversified with mush and milk, was the first change they could 
hope to make in their diet. Wolves, panthers, and bears were by no means 
scarce, but as other game was plenty, these animals did not indulge in the 
more dangerous chase of man. A wolf scalp then brought a premium of 
eight dollars out of the county treasury, and was a source of profit to quite 
a number of hunters. 

" In the war of 1812 the people of Mercer County were frequently called 
upon to give their aid in the defence of Erie, where the fleet of Commodore 
Perrv was being built. On these alarms, which were about as frequent as 
a vessel of the enemy hove in sight in the lake offing, the whole county would 
be aroused by runners in a day, and in a very few hours most of the able- 
bodied male population, whether belonging to a volunteer company or the 
militia, would be on their march to Erie. On one occasion the news came 

588 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

to Mercer on a Sunday while the Rev. S. Tait was preaching in the court- 
house. The sermon was suspended, the startling news announced from the 
pulpit, the dismissing benediction given, and immediate preparations for the 
march commenced. On the next day the military force of the county was 
well on its way to Erie. At another time the news of a threatened invasion 
came in the middle of the grain harvest. This made no difference; the 
response was immediate. It was on this occasion that Mr. John Findley 
dropped the sickle in his tracks in the wheat-field, hastened to his house, and, 
seizing his gun, with such provisions as his wife had at hand to put in his 
haversack, started on his way to the defence of his country. On his return, 
six weeks afterwards, the sickle was found by him where it had been dropped. 
It was on one of these occasions that but a single man was left in the county 
town, — Cunningham Sample, an old lawyer, completely unmanned by age 
and obesity. 

" The history of Mercer County schools is commensurate with the or- 
ganization of the county in 1800. Although at that time there were no school- 
houses in the county, the education of the children was not entirely neg- 
lected. At that time, we find in some localities, schools were organized in 
families, and teachers secured for seventy-five cents or one dollar per week. 
Five or six years passed away in this manner, when, in 1805, two school- 
houses were built in the western part of the county, one in Salem Township, 
in what is now known as the Fell settlement, another in the present Hickory 
Township ; and in the same or following year, in the southern part of the 
county, one was built in the Henderson settlement, in the present Worth 
Township; also one near that time in Pine Township. These were round 
log cabins. For ceilings, poles were thrown across overhead and brush placed 
on these poles and covered with earth. Above this was a clapboard roof held 
down by weight poles. Some of the better class of houses had puncheon floors 
("the floors in many of the dwelling-houses were constructed in the same 
way) ; others had nothing but the green sward, as nature left it. For light, a 
log was left out of the building, and newspapers greased and pasted in this 
opening. Seats were rude benches made of split logs, and desks were con- 
structed by boring into the logs and placing a slit piece of timber on pins 
driven into these holes. The fireplace, made of stone, mortar, and sticks, in- 
cluded the entire end of the building. Wood for this huge fireplace was 
hauled from surrounding forests by neighbors, who would appoint a day, 
and all turn out with oxen and sleds, and thus the wood was brought to the 
door, and there cut in suitable lengths by the larger boys in turn. It was 
also the rule for the larger boys to build the fires in turn, which required 
very early rising. The distance to the school-house from many of their homes 
was often five or six miles, and even farther. The time taught was eight 
hours per day. Boys were seen winding their way at daybreak along the 
trackless paths, save the track of a wolf, or perchance that of a passing bear. 



HIST0R1' OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

In tSoo Mercer County was divided into six townships,— Salem, Pyma- 
tuning, Neshannock, Wolf (.rook. Cool Spring, and Sandy Creek, After 
wards, twenty-five subdivisions were made, each independent in their local 
school affairs, containing a number of houses, ranging from three to twenty- 
three (boroughs excepted), Wolf Creek the least, and Hickory the greatest 
number. 

Before the ' free school system' the amount of subscription was about 
fifty cents per month for one scholar. The houses were built in a day. The 
site agreed upon, the neighbors would assemble on an appointed day, with 
axes and o\ teams, and erect a rude structure, considered ' good enough to 
keep school in.' 

\o test of scholarship was required, further than an article of agree- 
ment for parents to sign was written by the proposed teacher, setting forth 
his terms, what he proposed teaching, and bow far. A teacher who proposed 
in a winter school to teach as far as the ' double rule of three," now called 
compound proportion, was considered quite proficient in mathematics. He 
who proposed to lead a class through ' tare and tret" (custom-house business) 
was thought a master mathematician. This article of agreement was all the 
patrons had by which to judge bis ability. 

"No black-boards were used: no classes beard, except reading and 
spelling. Pupils were required to copy all their examples in a blank-book 
prepared for the purpose, for future reference. 

" But little moral suasion was used in the schools. Corporal punishment 
was almost the sole remedy for all offences. One of the favorite modes was 
what is termed "cut jackets." This was resorted to in case two were to be 
punished. Each offender selected his rod, and. at a given signal, they began 
a most furious attack upon each other, and would continue in the most brute- 
like and wicked manner, until often the blood would trickle down on the floor, 
and clothes were lacerated by the infuriated contestants, and the boy with the 
most physical strength and endurance was the envy of the school, a terror to 
those who had to ' cut jackets." and the boasted pride of his parents. Another 
barbarous mode of punishment was sometimes practised, taken, doubtless, 
front the old Indian mode of massacring the whites. A day was selected to 
carry the offender, on his back, in a prescribed circle, around the stove, and 
two or three boys selected to stand in convenient distances of the line, at 
regular intervals, with rod in hand, whose business it was to strike once at 
the offender as he was carried past. After be was carried a few times around 
the circle (according to the nature of the offence) he was considered suffi- 
ciently punished, which was often brutally severe. This was termed ' running 
the gauntlet.' " 

The number of schools in the county in 1840 was two hundred and 
fourteen. Average number of months taught, rive months and five days. 
Number of male teachers, one hundred and seventy. Number of female 

590 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

teachers, one hundred and forty-five. Average salary for males, thirteen 
dollars. Average salary for females, six dollars and nine cents. The pioneer 
school-teacher is not positively known. It may have been Thomas Rigdon, 
in 1800. 

The pioneer Masonic Lodge was organized July 4, 1822. The Lodge 
grew until 1827, and its warrant was vacated February 6, 1837. The Lodge 
was known as Mercer Lodge, No. 182, A. Y. M. 

INCORPORATION OK BOKOUGHS 

Sharon, October 6, 1841, M. C. Trout, pioneer burgess. Greenville, May 
29, 1837. Clarksville, May 5, 1848. 




CHAPTER XXXV 



POTTER COUNTY ERECTION LOCATION OF COUNTY SEAT COURTS AND 

OFFICERS SETTLERS ROADS HARDSHIPS ANIMALS AND HUNTERS 

ALLEGHENY RIVER, ETC. 



Potter County was separated from Lycoming, by the act of March 26, 
1804. Length, thirty-seven miles; breadth, thirty miles; area, eleven hun- 
dred and six square miles. Population in 1810, 29; in 1820, 186; in 1830, 
1265; in 1840, 3371. 

The county comprises the high, rolling, and table-land, adjacent to the 
northern boundary of the State, lying on the outskirts of the great bituminous 
coal formation. Its streams are the sources of the Allegheny, the Genesee, 
and the west branch of the Susquehanna; and a resident of the county says 
that all these streams head so near together that a man in three hours may 
drink from waters that flow into the Gulf of the St. Lawrence, the Gulf of 
Mexico, and the Chesapeake, respectively. The names of these sources are 
the Allegheny, the Genesee, the east branch of the Sinnemahoning, Kettle 
Creek, Pine Creek, and Cowanesque. In the south part of the county bitu- 
minous coal is found. 

Coudersport, the county seat, was in 1844 a small but thriving town, 
situated on the right bank of the Allegheny, at the crossing of the great east 
and west State road. Another road leads to Jersey Shore, on the West Branch. 
The place contains a stone court-house and jail, an academy, three stores, two 
taverns, a carding-machine, mills, and dwellings. Stated preaching, by 
ministers of different denominations, is regularly enjoyed on the Sabbath. 

John Keating, Esq., of Philadelphia, who owned immense tracts of wild 
lands in this region, presented one-half of the town-plot for the use of the 
county, and five hundred dollars for the academy. He also gave fifty acres 
of land to each of the first fifty families that settled on his land ; and many 
other benevolent acts of that gentleman are gratefully remembered by the 
early settlers. 

The court-house was finished in September, 1835. Coudersport then 
contained forty-seven people. 

The history-of the early pioneers is one of extreme toil and hardship, yet 
health and competence have been their reward ; and where they found naught 
but a howling wilderness, traversed only by the Indian, the bear, the wolf, 
the panther, the elk, and the deer, they now see cultivated fields, abounding 

592 



lO 



m 




* -US 

C L_ I N T O N 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

with cattle and sheep, and an industrious population, furnished with mills, 
schools, and manufactories. The following extracts are from the correspond- 
ence of respectable citizens of the county. An early settler, Benjamin Birt, 
Esq., says, — 

" In the year 1808 an east and west road was opened through Potter 
County. Messrs. John Keating & Co., of Philadelphia, owning large tracts 
of land in the northwest part of the county, agreed with Isaac Lyman, Esq., 
to undertake the opening of the road. In the fall of 1809 Mr. Lyman came 
in, with several hands, and erected a rude cabin, into which he moved in 
March, 1810. He then had but one neighbor in the county, who was four 
miles distant. I moved in on May 4, 181 1, and had to follow the fashion of 
the country for building and other domestic concerns, — which was rather 
tough, there being not a bushel of grain or potatoes, nor a pound of meat, 
except wild, to be had in the county ; but there were leeks and nettles in 
abundance, which, with venison and bear*s meat, seasoned with hard work 
and a keen appetite, made a most delicious dish. The friendly Indians of 
different tribes frequently visited us on their hunting excursions. Among 
other vexations were the gnats, a very minute but poisonous insect, that 
annoyed us far more than mosquitoes, or even than hunger and cold ; and 
in summer we could not work without raising a smoke around us. 

" Our roads were so bad that we had to fetch our provisions fifty to 
seventy miles on pack-horses. In this way we lived until we could raise our 
own grain and meat. By the time we had grain to grind, Mr. Lyman had 
built a small grist-mill ; but the roads still being bad. and the mill at some 
distance from me, I fixed an Indian samp-mortar to pound my corn, and 
afterwards I contrived a small hand-mill, by which I have ground many a 
bushel, — but it was hard work. When we went out after provisions with a 
team, we were compelled to camp out in the woods ; and, if in the winter, to 
chop down a maple-tree for our cattle to browse on all night, and on this kind 
of long fodder we had to keep our cattle a good part of the winter. 

" When I came here I had a horse that I called ' Main Dependence.' on 
account of his being a good steady old fellow. He used to carry my whole 
family on his back whenever we went to a wedding, a raising, a logging-bee, 
or to visit our neighbors, for several years, until the increasing load comprised 
myself, my wife, and three children, five in all. 

" We had often to pack our provisions eighty miles from Jersey Shore. 
Sixty miles of the road was without a house ; and in the winter, when deep 
snows came on and caught us on the road without fire, we should have 
perished if several of us had not been in company to assist each other. 

" The want of leather, after our first shoes were worn out, was severely 
felt. Neither tanner nor shoemaker lived in the county. But ' necessity is 
the mother of invention.' I made me a trough out of a big pine-tree, into 
which I put the hides of any cattle that died among us. I used ashes for 

595 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

tanning them, instead of lime, and bear's grease for oil. The thickest served 
for sole leather, and the thinner ones, dressed with a drawing-knife, for upper 
leather ; and thus I made shoes for myself and neighbors. 

" I had fourteen miles to go in winter to mill with an ox-team. The 
weather was cold and the snow deep ; no roads were broken, and no bridges 
built across the streams. I had to wade the streams, and carry the bags on 
my back. The ice was frozen to my coat as heavy as a bushel of corn. I 
worked hard all day and got only seven miles the first night, when I chained 
my team to a tree, and walked three miles to house myself. At the second 
night I reached the mill. My courage often failed, and I had almost resolved 
to return : but when I thought of my children crying for bread, I took new 
courage." 

Mr. John Peat, another old pioneer, in a communication in the Forester 
in 1834, says, — 

" It will be twenty-three years the 23d clay of May, 1834, since I moved 
into Potter County. Old Mr. Ayres was in the county at that time, and had 
been in the county about five years alone. In the fall before I came, three 
families — Benjamin Birt, Major Lyman, and a Mr. Sherman — moved to the 
county. The east and west State road was cut out the year before I moved in. 

" It was very lonesome for several years. People would move in, stay a 
short time, arid move away again. It has been but a few years since settlers 
began to stick. I made some little clearing, and planted some garden seeds, 
etc.', the first spring. We brought a small stock of provisions with us. On 
the 3d day of JulyT started, with my two yoke of oxen, to go to Jersey Shore, 
to mill, to procure flour. I crossed Pine Creek eighty times going to, and 
eighty thhes coming from mill, was gone eighteen days, broke two axle-trees 
to my wagon, upset twice, and one wheel came off in crossing the creek. 

" Jersey Shore was the nearest place to procure provisions, and the road 
was dreadful. The few seeds that I was able to plant the first year yielded 
but little produce. We, however, raised some half-grown potatoes, some tur- 
nips, and soft corn, with which we made out to live, without suffering, till 
the next spring, at planting time, when I planted all the seeds that I had left ; 
and when I finished planting we had nothing to eat but leeks, cow-cabbage, 
and milk. We lived on leeks and cow-cabbage as long as they kept green 
— about six weeks. My family consisted of my wife arid two children : and 
I was obliged to work, though faint for want of food. 

"The first winter the snow fell very deep. The first winter month it 
snowed twenty-five days out of thirty ; and during the three winter months it 
snowed seventy days. I sold one yoke of my oxen in the fall, the other yoke 
I wintered on browse : but in the spring one ox died, and the other I sold 
to procure food for my family, arid was how destitute of a team, and had 
nothing but my own hands to depend upon to clear my lands and raise pro- 
visions. We wore out all our shoes the first year.' We had no way to get 

596 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN EENNSYLVANIA 

with cattle and sheep, and an industrious population, furnished with mills, 
schools, and manufactories. The following extracts are from the correspond- 
ence of respectable citizens of the county. An early settler, Benjamin Birt, 
Esq., says, — 

" In the year 1808 an east and west road was opened through Potter 
County. Messrs. John Keating & Co., of Philadelphia, owning large tracts 
of land in the northwest part of the county, agreed with Isaac Lyman, Esq., 
to undertake the opening of the road. In the fall of 1809 Mr. Lyman came 
in, with several hands, and erected a rude cabin, into which he moved in 
March, 1810. He then had but one neighbor in the county, who was four 
miles distant. I moved in on May 4, 181 1, and had to follow the fashion of 
the country for building and other domestic concerns, — which was rather 
tough, there being not a bushel of grain or potatoes, nor a pound of meat, 
except wild, to be had in the county ; but there were leeks and nettles in 
abundance, which, with venison and bear's meat, seasoned with hard work 
and a keen appetite, made a most delicious dish. The friendly Indians of 
different tribes frequently visited us on their hunting excursions. Among 
other vexations were the gnats, a very minute but poisonous insect, that 
annoyed us far more than mosquitoes, or even than hunger and cold ; and 
in summer we could not work without raising a smoke around us. 

" Our roads were so bad that we had to fetch our provisions fifty to 
seventy miles on pack-horses. In this way we lived until we could raise our 
own grain and meat. By the time we had grain to grind, Mr. Lyman had 
built a small grist-mill ; but the roads still being bad, and the mill at some 
distance from me, I fixed an Indian samp-mortar to pound my corn, and 
afterwards I contrived a small hand-mill, by which I have ground many a 
bushel, — but it was hard work. When we went out after provisions with a 
team, we were compelled to camp out in the woods ; and, if in the winter, to 
chop down a maple-tree for our cattle to browse on all night, and on this kind 
of long fodder we had to keep our cattle a good part of the winter. 

" When I came here I had a horse that I called ' Main Dependence,' on 
account of his being a good steady old fellow. He used to carry my whole 
family on his back whenever we went to a wedding, a raising, a logging-bee, 
or to visit our neighbors, for several years, until the increasing load comprised 
myself, my wife, and three children, five in all. 

" We had often to pack our provisions eighty miles from Jersey Shore. 
Sixty miles of the road was without a house ; and in the winter, when deep 
snows came on and caught us on the road without fire, we should have 
perished if several of us had not been in company to assist each other. 

" The want of leather, after our first shoes were worn out, was severely 
felt. Neither tanner nor shoemaker lived in the county. But ' necessity is 
the mother of invention.' I made me a trough out of a big pine-tree, into 
which I put the hides of any cattle that died among us. I used ashes for 

595 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

the mink, and the musk-rat went forth by day and by night and feared no 
' dead fall ;' the soil had not known the plough, nor the tree the woodman's 
axe : here was the forest primeval, unbroken, pathless, magnificent ; the 
smoke from an occasional Indian camp-fire had from time to time curled its 
way upward through the evergreen branches of the pine and hemlock, but, 
so far as history records, no white man lived, or ever had lived, within the 
splendid wilderness which, by the statute of 1S04. was set apart and designated 
as the county of Potter. In the history of the whole Commonwealth there is 
probably no other instance of the erection of a county in which no human 
being-- lived at the time of its erection. 

" THE FIRST SETTLER 

" Although Coudersport (so-called in honor of Coudere, the French 
friend of John Keating, who, with other extensive land-owners, contributed 
lands for public purposes and lands and money for the erection and support 
of an academy ) was decreed by legislative act of 1807 to become the ' seat 
of justice.* nobody yet lived in it. nor in the countv. unless we admit the 
claim that there settled in 1806, near the mouth of the Oswayo, the French- 
man named Jaundrie. who is said to have built the house, ' clap-boarded with 
shingles." from which the place derived and retains the name of ' Shingle 
House." The honor of being the first settler is usually accredited to William 
Avers, whose settlement in 1808 upon the Keating farm five or six miles 
east of Coudersport is well established. He brought with him his wife, three 
children, and a negro boy fifteen years old, named Asylum Peters, whom he 
purchased from General Brevost at Ceres for one hundred dollars, upon con- 
sideration that he give him a fair common education and set him free when 
of age. This negro, who lived to the age of eighty-seven, and died November 
.24, 1880. at the house of Walter Edgcomb in Homer Township, was the only 
slave ever owned in Potter County. 

"' Major Isaac Lyman, the agent of Keating, came in 1809 and founded 
Lymansville, where he built the first grist-mill constructed from lumber cut 
with a whip-saw on the Keating farm. 

'■Benjamin Burt settled in 1S11 where Burtville now stands. In the 
same year there was a settlement at the mouth of Fishing Creek, and in 1812 
Samuel Losev settled on Pine Creek and John Peet near Coudersport. Shortly 
after that came John Taggart and Daniel Clark. Among the prominent names 
in the history of the county from that time down until, say. two decades after 
its complete organization in 1835, I readily recall such as Ives, Sartwell, Nel- 
son. Cartee, Ross. Tones, Freeman. Lewis, dishing. Raymond. Olmstead, 
Baker, Kilbourn, Austin. Cole. Stebbins, Reese, Hall, Knox. "Mann, Benson, 
McDougall. Haskell. Butterworth. Armstrong, Colcord. Crosby. French, 
Stout, Colvin, and many others too numerous to be mentioned here — im- 
portant guiding characters in the early history of the county. 

600 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" THE FIRST WEDDING 

" The first Potter County exemplification of the fact that all the world 
is ruled by love occurred in 1810, when Laura Lyman was married to Silas 
McCarty, of Muncy. 

" GRADUAL ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY 

" By act of 1824 Potter and McKean were partially cut loose from Ly- 
coming and attached to each other; McKean to elect two county commis- 
sioners and Potter one, the three to hold their office at the house of Benjamin 
Burt, in Potter, near the county line. In 1824 Potter was still attached to 
McKean for certain purposes, and its elections had to be returned to ' Smeth- 
port.' But each count) - had its separate commissioners. Ephraim Fuller, 
John Lyman, and Leonard Taggart constituted this first board. Finally, in 
1833, it was enacted that on and after September 1, 1833, Potter County 
should cut loose from her neighbors, stand upon her own feet, and walk alone, 
with the full organization and all the rights, powers, and privileges of a sepa- 
rate and independent county. Within how short a space her greatness has 
been accomplished is seen when we reflect that there are persons yet living 
who were in life when the county was erected, and that sixty-nine years only 
have elapsed since her complete organization. 

" The first associate judges were Timothy Ives, Jr., and Seneca Free- 
man. The first prothonotary, clerk of the court, register of wills, and re- 
corder of deeds was Isaac Strait ; the first sheriff, Ansel Purple, and the first 
coroner, Daniel M. Hunt. The first commissioners under full organization 
were W. H. Warner, Samuel Cushing, and Elisha Mix, and they awarded 
the contract for the first court-house to Timothy Ives and Almon Wood- 
cock. The first law judge to hold court in it was Nathaniel B. Eldred, ap- 
pointed by the governor for the counties of Potter, McKean, Warren, and 
Jefferson. Prior to that, litigation was a luxury, as Potter County suitors 
had to go to Williamsport until 1823, and then to ' Smethport* The judges 
who have presided here since Eldred have been McCalmont. Williston, White, 
Williams, and Olmstead." 

" There are some things connected with Potter County, closely allied to 
the lives of our hunter settlers, which, although they might be passed over, 
are still interesting, and, therefore, as being a portion of the early events, 
deserve a place here. That the lives of our old settlers had much romance 
and adventure, mingled with the terrible hardships they underwent, cannot 
be gainsaid. The untimely meeting of an enraged bear, or a panther, meant 
at times a life-and-death struggle- — a narrow escape at all events. 

" The Jamison Fork, a small stream running into the East Fork of the 
Sinnemahoning. takes its name from a tragical incident which took place at 
or near its mouth. An Indian, known as James Jamison, while hunting in the 
East Fork country, was attacked by a panther that sprang upon him from a 

601 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

tree, as local tradition has it. The Indian having but a knife with which 
to defend himself, the fight was a terrible affair, which had its termination 
in the killing of both the Indian and the panther. W. W. Thompson, who 
gave us this item, slew a bear upon the same ground. This is still (1890) 
a fine hunting territory." 

1 here quote from Rhoads's " Manuals of Pennsylvania and New Jersey," 
1903: 

" The following notes by my valued correspondent, Mr. E. O. Austin, of 
Potter County, Pennsylvania, regarding the habits of the wapiti in that county 
are of much interest. Under date of March 4, 1901, he writes: ' I settled at 
my present residence, now in the borough of Austin, in 1856, then a perfect 
wilderness. When I came into this region, a young man, I could not be 
surfeited with the stories told by old settlers and hunters as to what they had 
seen. On the First Fork of the Sinnemahoning near Prouty Run [Potter 
County] was the " Great Elk Lick" of this region. About 1835 or 1836 the 
first settlers came into this region. The elks with other wild creatures then 
reigned here in their glory. Clifford Hoskins, Charles Wykoff, the Jordans, 
and John Glasspy, with others, were among the prominent men of the time. 
They were all settled within three or four miles of this lick. They all told 
me that they would go to the elk-lick to get a deer as often as they wanted 
one in the summer-time. Here sometimes fifty or more could be seen at a 
time, with the fawns playing around like young lambs. Cliff. Hoskins said 
he went there once to get a deer when he saw several elks in the lick and 
more in the clearing around it. It being the first time he had seen elk there 
he gazed in wonder, when more came in until forty or fifty had congregated. 
He watched their grim play for some time and then shot one. The rest started 
back, then stamped around their fallen comrade gazing in a bewildered way, 
and stampeded with the noise of thunder when Hoskins approached. Aunt 
Eleanor Wyckoff lived a mile and a half from Elk Lick. She told me she 
thought her brother, Mr. Jordan, was telling one of his big yarns when he 
told her of a similar view of elks, but one day after, when the men found 
they were around again, she went with her husband to see them. She said, 
" First some came, then more, until the clearing seemed full of them and the 
men said there were about fifty there." Regarding the clearing above men- 
tioned — where the elks frequented a big lick they rubbed their horns against 
the trees, sometimes in play or to rub off the velvet or skin from the new 
horns. This process soon kills all the trees except some big old ones, so that 
a clearing of two, three, or four acres is made around the lick. A few thorn 
trees come up on it which grow so low and stout as to defy them, when it is 
called a " Thorn Bottom." Elks are gregarious, living in small herds if un- 
molested, likely in families, but they congregate at the licks in summer in 
considerable herds. 7 

" I have no account of their ' yarding' in this county. Their food in 

602 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

summer was nettles, elk or cow-cabbage, elk grass [a wide-bladed bunch- 
grass common to the woods], and the tender growing twigs of most deciduous 
trees : and in the winter this elk grass, which keeps green all winter, the 
edible brake or cow-brake or fern, and browse of deciduous trees, elk wood, 
bass wood, etc. They migrate in families from section to section of the 
country, much like deer, but farther away. 

" John Glasspy told me of taking a contract to catch elks alive for some 
fancier. They find and single out their elk, when two men with a small dog, 
and each a coil of rope and well-filled knapsack of grub, start on the chase, 
and a long chase it is. But after three or four days the creature halts to see 
what is following him. They then let loose the little dog. The elk seems to 
wonder if he has been frightened by that little whiffet. The men have chosen 




Edwin Haskell 

their time and place not far from some rocky ridge or large rock, accessible 
to the elk. The dog attacks him with a great noise, and not much else. The 
beast runs for a rock as the best fort of defence from the attack. While his 
attention is absorbed by the antics of the little dog, it is easy to put a rope 
over his horn with a long pole, or by throwing it noosed, and with two ropes 
on his horns and two strong men, wide apart, to hold him, he soon becomes 
tired and docile enough to be led out and home. This was not an unfrequent 
occurrence in those times." 

The pioneer term of school in the county was in 1816-17, on Avers Hill, 
taught by Master Harley Knickerbocker ; the term was three months, and 
there were but twelve pupils. In 1840 the Coudersport Library Association 
was organized by a number of women. The pioneer murder in the county 

603 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

was on August n, 1838. Joshua Jones, of Genessee Township, killed his 
wife. He was hung May 31, 1839. Pine Creek was declared a highway in 
1805; Sinnemahoning. in 1804; Oswayo, in 1807, and the Allegheny, in 
1816. About 1816 the pioneer mail route was established from Olean, New 
York, or what was then Hamilton, New York, to Jersey Shore, Pennsyl- 
vania. The pioneer postmaster in the county was Isaac Lyman, and the 
office was at Lymanville. The service was by horseback. In 1816 the pioneer 
religious services were held in the county at Lymanville by the Baptists. 
From February to June 1, 18 16, Jacob Van Natter caught seventeen wolves, 




Mahlon J. Colcord 

besides seven wolf puppies. Up to and long after 1850 Potter County was a 
veritable menagerie of wild beasts. A large volume could be written about 
the adventures, perils, and escapes of the pioneer settlers and hunters with 
wild animals. 

The most famous hunters of pioneer times were Jacob Van Natter, 
Samuel Losey^Nathan Turner, George Taggart, George Avers, Charles 
Carlin, Wat. Trowbridge, Cephas Nelson, and Joshua Jackson. Early hunt- 
ers were John Jordan, Joseph Nelson, and others. 

The pioneer newspaper was the Democratic-Republican, published at 

604 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Coudersport in 1839. Edwin Haskell, a member of the firm of Haskell & 
Colcord, publishers of the Potter County Journal, is one of the early jour- 
nalists of Northern Pennsylvania. He learned the printer's trade on the 
Journal when it was first published, and has been connected with it much of 
the time since. 

Mahlon J. Colcord is a grandson of John Peet, the fourth settler in 
Potter County, whose early hardships and indomitable spirit are related in 
part in this history. The success of the celebration held at Coudersport 
August 9, 10, 11, and 12, 1904, commemorating the one hundredth anniver- 
sary of the erection of Potter County, was largely due to the efforts of Mr. 




Head-waters of the Allegheny River 

Colcord, who was president of the Centennial Commission, and had general 
supervision of the work. 

" The Allegheny * River rises in Potter County, within a few miles of 
the head-waters of the Sinnemahoning Creek, and in its course winds through 
the State of New York about twenty-five miles, and re-enters Pennsylvania, 
and after meandering through Warren, Venango, Armstrong, and Allegheny 
Counties, a distance of one hundred and eighty miles, unites with the Monon- 
gahela at Pittsburg. ' It is remarkable for the clearness of its waters and 
the general beauty of the stream, being studded with many islands, and flow- 



* The Delaware Indians who inhabited this region called this river Alligewisipo ; 
the Iroquois called it Ohio. — that is, The Beautiful River. — Loskiel. 

60s 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

ing through a highly picturesque country. During high and middling stages 
of water, it is navigable for steamboats of light draught as high as Olean 
Point, in the State of New York. A number of steamboats are now on this 
river from Pittsburg to Freeport, Kittanning. Franklin, and Warren ; and in 
the summer season, when the river is low, small keel- and flat-boats are 
employed to do the carrying trade.' The benefit of the trade on this river 
to our western counties, and indeed to many of the Western States, is in- 
calculable. Out of it has been floated nearly all the pine timber, boards, and 
shingles that have been used in the valley of the Mississippi, from Pittsburg 
to New Orleans. Rising of four hundred large arks, or flat-boats, from 
sixty-five to one hundred and twenty feet long, come down the Allegheny 
annually, loaded with lumber and produce. These boats are generallv sold 
at Pittsburg to the coal merchants, who reload them with coal for Cincin- 
nati. Louisville, Natchez, and the intermediate ports. The ascending trade 
of the Allegheny consists chiefly of Pittsburg manufactures, groceries, and 
foreign and domestic goods for the supply of the upper country : but the 
descending trade is much greater, embracing a vast amount of all kinds of 
lumber, logs, and shingles, pot and pearl ashes, whiskey, cheese, cabinet-ware, 
patent tubs and buckets, hay. oats, potatoes, hoop-poles, bark, etc.. a large 
quantity of salt from the Kiskiminetas. and of pig metal from the great iron 
establishments in Venango and Armstrong Counties." — Historx of Western 
Pennsylvania in 1S46. 



V ? V 



CHAPTER XXXVI 



TIOGA COUNTY FORMATION OF COUNTY LOCATION OF COUNTY SEAT SET- 
TLERS ROADS COURTS REDEMPTIONERS CHURCHES SCHOOLS 

STREAMS INDIAN TRAILS HUNTERS INDIAN CAPTIVES — ANIMALS, HAB- 
ITS, CUSTOMS, ETC. 

" Tioga County was separated from Lycoming by the act of March 25. 
1804; in 1806 the seat of justice was established at Wellsborough ; in 1808 
county commissioners were first elected, and in 1812 the county was fully 
organized for judicial purposes. Length, thirty-six miles ; breadth, thirty- 
one miles ; area, eleven hundred and eight square miles. Population in 1810, 
1687; in 1820, 4021; in 1830, 9071; in 1840, 15,498. Area, eleven hundred 
and twenty-four square miles, and 719,360 acres; mean elevation, 1300; 
maximum, 2280. 

" The county is traversed by the high undulating ridges skirting the 
northwestern base of the Allegheny Mountains, or rather of Laurel Hill, 
which sweeps past the southeastern corner of the county. These ridges per- 
tain generally to the hard sandstone strata of formations X. and XII. of our 
state geologists, and the lower strata of formation XIII.. which compre- 
hends the coal measures. The uplands in the vicinity of the larger streams 
are well covered with white pines of a superior quality ; the sugar-maple 
abounds in many places, and large quantities of sugar are produced from it. 
The county is well supplied with navigable streams, having the Tioga River, 
a south branch of the Chemung, on the east, which is navigable for rafts and 
arks about thirty miles above the New York line ; the Cowanesque Creek on 
the north, navigable about the same distance ; and Pine Creek on the west, 
also navigable; so that no part of the county is distant more than ten miles 
from descending navigation. A very extensive lumber business has been 
done on these streams, especially on Pine Creek, whence a vast amount has 
annually been sent down the Susquehanna. The recent crisis in monetary 
affairs has tended in some measure to check this trade. Several men from 
the cities, with more capital than industry, and more enterprise than prudence, 
had embarked in the business, and driven it beyond its profitable limit. 

"Until the year 1796-97 Tioga and the neighboring counties were a 
howling wilderness, entirely cut off from the West Branch settlements by 
the lofty barrier of the Allegheny Mountains, and trodden only by the beasts 
of the forest, and the savage on his hostile expedition to the lower settle- 

607 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

ments. In 1792 a Mr. Williamson, of New York, an agent for Sir William 
Pnlteney, first opened a rough wagon-road through this wilderness, across 
the mountains from the mouth of Lycoming Creek to the sources of the' 
Tioga, and thence down that river to Painted Post, in New York. This road 
was made at the expense of Sir William Pulteney for the purpose of render- 
ing his lands in the State of New York accessible to German or other emi- 
grants coming up from Philadelphia and Baltimore. Old Mr. Covenhoven 
(Crownover). of Lycoming County, and Mr. Patterson superintended the 
workmen on the road, who were principally German redemptioners.* This 




John Du Bois. born March 3, 1S09, at Owego, Tioga County, New York ; died at Du Bois 
City, Pennsylvania, May 5, 1S86 

road became a great thoroughfare, and was extensively known as the ' Block- 
house road.' from a log house (called blockhauss by the Germans) erected 
by Williamson near the mountains for the accommodation of travellers. 

"It is still (1843) a tavern stand and the site of a post-office, about 
twelve miles south of Blossburg. This house was kept in the primitive times 
by one Anthonyson, a sort of half French and half Dutchman. Anthony, 
according to his own story, had spent most of his life as a soldier, during 



* See chapter on Redempticmers, page 329. 
60S 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

the stormy times of the French Revolution; and he had thereby neither 
improved his morals nor his fortune. He made no scruple, by way of amusing 
his guests, of boasting of his bold-faced villany ; there was no one of the ten 
commandments which he had not specifically broken, time and again. With 
the habits of the old soldier, he had little disposition to get his living by 
tilling the ground, and found the military code of pillage much more to his 
taste. He raised no oats, but always charged travellers for the use of his 
troughs, and for sleeping before his fire. Whiskey was the staple commodity 
at his house, serving both as meat and drink. Many of the early emigrants 
to the Genesee country drove their young cattle along. There was a wide 
track of some fearful tornado, not far from Anthony's house, in which he 
had contrived to cut an open space, with a narrow passage into it, making a 
kind of unseen pen. To this spot the cattle of his guests were very apt to 
stray in the night. In the morning the poor emigrants were hunting, far and 
near, for their cattle, with Anthony for their guide; but on such occasions 
he never happened to think of the windfall. 

" The unsuspecting guests, after two or three days of fruitless search, 
would leave, paying roundly for their detention ; and instructing the old 
scoundrel to hunt the cattle, and when found, to write to a certain address, 
with a promise of reward for his trouble. Anthony never had occasion to 
write, but it was always remarked that he kept his smoke-house well supplied 
with what he called elk-meat. When or where he caught the elks was never 
known. Some lone travellers, who stopped at his house, it is strongly sus- 
pected, never reached their intended destination. 

" After the opening of this road, many of the pioneers from the Wyo- 
ming country, and from New England, came into the eastern part of the 
county, and took up lands under the Connecticut title. For quite a number 
of years the uncertainty of this title gave rise to much wrangling and litiga- 
tion. A Mr. Gobin, an assistant surveyor under the Pennsylvania title, was 
shot in his camp, but not killed. At length the litigation was ended by the 
compromise at Trenton ; the settlers quietly acknowledged the validity of the 
Pennsylvania title, and compromised their claims with the agents of the land- 
holders from Philadelphia. A large portion of the lands in the eastern section 
of the county belongs to the Bingham estate. 

" Soon after the cutting of the Block-house road, Mr. John Norris, from 
Philadelphia, first came, about the beginning of the year 1799, to the south- 
western part of the county, as an agent for Mr. Benjamin Morris, who owned 
lands in that region. He was accompanied by his brother-in-law, Mr. Mor- 
decai Jackson, then a young lad. On Mr. Norris's arrival he erected a grist- 
and saw-mill, on the waters of Little Pine Creek, just within the boundary 
of Lycoming County. This establishment was generally known as Morris's 
Mills. The country was then a complete wilderness, and in traversing its 
wilds these first adventurers endured the many hardships incident to a pio- 
39 6°9 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANL4 

neer's life; such as sleeping on the ground in the open air, often without 
fire, searching for the blazes on the trees at night, to find the way through 
the forest, and travelling long journeys for their provisions, to the older 
settlements, for one or two years after their first arrival. These hardships 
were doubly severe to young men reared among the comforts and luxuries 
of Philadelphia. After remaining at Morris's Mills for five or six years, and 
inducing some half-dozen settlers to immigrate, Mr. Norris removed to the 
vicinity of the Big Marsh ; and subsequently, in 1807, to within a mile of Wells- 
borough. The mill at that place had been built the year previous (1806), by 
Samuel W. Fisher, of Philadelphia ; and the same year the county seat was 
fixed at Wellsborough. Among the first settlers at or near Wellsborough, 
besides Mr. Norris, were Benjamin W. Morris, David Linsey, Alpheus 
Cheney, and Daniel Kelsey, Esq. 

" Wellsborough, the county seat, is located near the centre of the county, 
three miles from the navigable waters of Pine Creek, on the great State road, 
passing through the northern range of counties. The north and south road, ' 
from the mouth of Lycoming Creek to the one hundred and ninth mile-stone, 
on the State line, also passes through the place. The village is built upon 
level ground, on a long and wide street, sheltered on the north and east by 
high hills. There existed for many years a great strife for the removal of 
the county seat. The towns on the Tioga and Cowanesque, appearing to be 
most favored with the increase of population and improvement, contended for 
the removal ; and settlers were consequently diverted from selecting a loca- 
tion at or near Wellsborough. This had a blighting effect upon the place ; 
and in 183 1 the village paper describes the place as containing only ' forty 
or fifty indifferent dwelling-houses, a court-house and jail, of no very repu- 
table appearance,' etc. At length, in 1835, a majority of the citizens of the 
county authorized the erection of the new stone court-house and county 
offices, which confirmed to the place its title as the seat of justice. 

" Since that time it has greatly improved, and many new frame buildings 
have been erected, among them an Episcopal and a Methodist church, in a 
very neat style of architecture. There is also an academy. The private 
dwellings are built with much taste, and even some of the stores and taverns 
exhibit the tasteful proportions of Grecian architecture. Pleasant front yards, 
gardens, and green blinds indicate the origin of the population from New 
York and New England. The court-house is a fine edifice of white sand- 
stone, surmounted with a cupola. A tri-weekly stage runs to Covington, 
twelve miles east. Population in 1840, 369. Coal has been discovered about 
seven miles south of the borough. 

" Covington is a large and flourishing village, at the intersection of the 
great State road with the Tioga River. The railroad of the Tioga Navigation- 
Company also passes through the village. Mr. Washburn, Mr. Elijah Put- 
nam, and Mr. Mallory settled at Covington ' corners' previous to 1806. Mr. 

610 



NEW 



YORK 



n \j 




More, h Z6-/664 



Ou TLm E /w /a, r=> /8SO - 

Y C O M I 



N 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Bloss and Mr. Hovey had settled about the year 1801, two miles below; and 
Mr. Sacket also lived near the same place. The land titles were for a long 
time in dispute between the Connecticut and Pennsylvania claimants. When 
at last the)- were settled in favor of the Pennsylvanians, or ' Pennamites,' as 
the ' Connecticut boys' called them, Mr. William Patten came in as their 
agent and laid out the town, about the year 1822, and started a store and 
tavern. For some years the place increased very slowly, and was only known 
as ' The Corners.' In 1831 it assumed the dignity of a borough; soon after- 
wards the great fever of internal improvement and speculation began to rise, 
and Covington, being an important point, rose with it. 

" Lands both for farming and timber, and town lots, were eagerly taken 
up, and passed from hand to hand, sometimes doubled and trebled in value 
at each transfer; coal-mines and iron-mines were opened, and water-powers 
were sought out and improved; saw-mills, furnaces, houses, stores, and 
taverns went up as if by magic; bank-notes poured- in from New York and 
Towanda, and everybody seemed to be getting rich. But at length, in 
1841-42, the bubble burst — bank-notes melted in the hand, property became 
unsalable, and the whole community embarrassed. The fever had subsided, 
and left in its place a hard-shaking ague. 

" The following tragic tale is copied from the newspapers of February, 
1842, and will serve to explain much of the embarrassment that has over- 
taken Covington and the vicinity. 

' Philadelphia, 17th February, 1842. — This morning, at about six 
o'clock, Mr. J. G. Boyd, late cashier and agent of the Towanda Bank, killed 
himself at his residence in Schuylkill Seventh Street, by firing a loaded pistol 
into his mouth. Previously to his late dismissal as the cashier of the bank, 
it was ascertained that he had, as the signing officer of the relief issues of that 
bank, put out some thousands of dollars on his own account. The Penn 
Township Bank, one of the losers by this fraudulent issue, and by some of 
his other transactions, had commenced a suit against him, and it was while 
in the custody of the sheriff, and when he saw that the whole fraud must 
be exposed, that he committed the melancholy act. About two years since he 
had married an interesting young lady at Trenton, New Jersey, and was 
keeping house with her at the time of his suicide in Philadelphia. He had 
furnished this house splendidly, had settled upon his wife a farm near Ger- 
mantown, worth about eight thousand dollars, and had made many munificent 
presents to her relatives. But it appears that all this time he had another 
wife, a most estimable lady, at Covington, Tioga County, by whom he had 
several children, and with whom he was living on most affectionate terms 
whenever his business called him to that vicinity. With his Philadelphia 
wife he passed as Mr. Henry Seymour, represented himself as a drover 
having large transactions with the interior counties, and often spoke of his 
intimate friend. Mr. John G. Boyd. So adroitly was the deception main- 

613 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

tained, that neither of these unfortunate ladies ever suspected the least im- 
propriety in his conduct, or alienation of his affections. 

" ' Mr. Boyd had come out from the State of New York to Tioga and 
Bradford Counties some three or four years since. He was a man of about 
thirty-five years of age, with a gentlemanly, but plain and business-like exte- 
rior, exhibiting extraordinary tact and readiness in matters of business, and 
a good degree of common sense, apparently, in the management of his 
enterprises. Although comparatively a stranger, yet so plausible was his 
address that he soon gained the confidence of wealthy men, who intrusted 
him with means to enter largely into the lumber business, and afterwards into 
the iron business and coal land speculations in Tioga County. He had several 
large mills near Covington, a furnace at Blossburg, and was engaged in many 
of the most prominent schemes for improving these two places. His business 
led him into intimate connection with the Towanda Bank ; and he was suc- 
cessively appointed clerk, agent for the transaction of the bank's business in 
Philadelphia, and cashier. The latter office, after the credit of the bank began 
to decline, he was compelled to give up. He still, however, secretly continued 
his fraudulent issues of Towanda relief notes in Philadelphia, until a short 
time previous to the tragic close of his career/ 

" Covington, however, though shocked and thrown back by this calamity, 
added to the ordinary embarrassment of the times, still has many advan- 
tages for becoming a prosperous town, particularly an extensive farming 
and lumbering country constantly opening to the west of it, which finds here 
the most convenient depot for its produce and lumber. Quite a brisk business 
is still done. No church has yet been erected in the place (1843). The Pres- 
byterians worship in a school-house. The Baptists and Methodists have it 
in contemplation to erect churches soon. The extensive lumber establish- 
ment of Boyd & Clever is about half a mile below the town. 

" Blossburg took its name from the aged Mr. Aaron Bloss (now of Cov- 
ington), who originally settled here and owned the property. Before Mr. 
Bloss removed here, about the year 1802, one Gaylord, a worthless fellow, 
had kept a tavern. Mr. Bloss removed from near Covington, and bought 
him out. The place at that time went by the name of ' Peters's camp.' This 
Peters was a German, who did the baking in an immense oven for the large 
company of German redemptioners at work on the Block-House road.* 
Peters was not remarkable for cleanliness of person ; and his comrades, un- 
able any longer to tolerate his filth, caught him and commenced the necessary 
ablution by pouring sundry buckets of cold water upon his head, stroking 
and smoothing down his hair in a becoming manner, and were about to 
complete the process by putting him into the river, when the superintendent 
of the road interfered. 



* See chapter on Redemptioners. page 330. 
614 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" Blossburg is situated on the Tioga River, at the head of the railroad 
connecting the bituminous coal- and iron-mines of Tioga County with the 
Chemung River and Canal, and promises to become a point of some impor- 
tance when all the natural resources in its vicinity shall be properly de- 
veloped. 

" The railroad from Blossburg, through Covington, to Corning, in the 
State of New York, forty miles, was constructed by the Tioga Navigation 
Company, instead of a canal or slackwater navigation, and was opened for 
locomotives in July, 1840. This road opens a connection between the coal 
mines of Blossburg and the Chemung Canal of New York. 

" A large iron-furnace stands at the upper end of the village, which had 
been leased by Mr. Boyd and another person. It was originally wrought 
with charcoal, but had been altered for coke ; and the workmen were conduct- 
ing a successful blast with the latter, when Mr. Boyd's catastrophe occurred, 
and the hearth was allowed * to chill.' The same blighting chill came over 
many of the enterprises in this region from the same cause. Blossburg has 
become quite a village since the opening of the mines and the railroad. Like 
most other coal towns in Pennsylvania, it resembles an army with its tents 
pitched in different detachments, — here one row of uniformly built houses, and 
there another. The houses are constructed with good taste, principally of 
wood. The country around is wild and rugged. The Tioga, here but a 
narrow stream, flows in a deep and narrow valley, surrounded on both sides 
by precipitous hills. 

" Tioga, or Willardsburg, situated at the confluence of Crooked Creek 
and the Tioga River, was settled about the year 1800 by Mr. Willard. The 
opening of the country to a market has given it an impetus, and it has rap- 
idly increased, until it rivals the towns above it on the river. It contains 
Methodist and Baptist churches. 

" Mansfield is on the right bank of the Tioga, at the mouth of Canoe 
Camp Creek, three miles below Covington. Mainsville is four miles east of 
Mansfield, on the road to Towanda. Not far from this place, in Union 
Township, in September, 1835, Major Ezra Long is said to have discovered 
a considerable quantity of lead ore, the specimens of which were equal to 
the best lead ores of the West. 

" Lawrenceville is a small village just within the State line." 
Tioga County has always been celebrated for intelligence and patriot- 
ism ; and no wonder ! Forty of its pioneer settlers served in the Revolution- 
ary army, and over forty did service in the War of 18 12. 

" The first prominent settlers within what is Tioga County — Jesse Losey 
and his wife — were historic characters. They located in the county in 1786. 
at least two years earlier than a local historian has credited Samuel Baker 
and wife with doing so. Losey had been of the Continental army, in which 
he served throughout the Revolutionary War. He had heard the solid shot. 

615 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

shell, and red-hot ball that rained at Yorktown for more than a week against 
Cornwallis's fortified lines, and he had listened to the music to which that 
British general's army marched out, on October 19, 1781, when he surrendered 
his forces to the Americans. 

" In the spring of 1786 Jesse Losey and his wife anchored their birch- 
bark canoe where Tioga village is now situated and built a cabin on the site 
of the present Episcopal church in that borough." — Agitator. 

A settler or two had located at the Block-House as early as 1795. In 
1797 Gad Lamb located; Dr. Willard, the pioneer doctor, in 1799. A colony 
came from Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, and Philadelphia, in 1800, and 
settled about Wellsboro. 

In 1812 the county was organized, and in 1813 the pioneer court was 
held in the log court-house that was erected in 1812. 

The pioneer court was held by John Bannister Gibson, president judge, 
assisted by associate judges Samuel Wells Morris and Ira Kilburn. The 
pioneer sheriff was Alpheus Cheney. The present court-house was built in 

1835- 

Wellsboro was declared the county seat in 1806, and named for Mrs. 
Mary Wells Morris. It was incorporated as a borough in 1830, with about 
fifty families or two hundred and fifty people. 

Benjamin B. Smith, the editor of the Phoenix, who was a member of 
the council, and had a hand in making the new laws, referred to them in his 
issue of July 3, 1830, and defended them in these words: 

" At last our by-laws are published, and we hope soon to see our streets 
cleared of sheep, hogs, and cattle, which have hitherto been really a nuisance, 
especially in the night. Depredations have already been commenced on 
some of our gardens, and unless cattle are shut up at night we can expect 
nothing but that our vegetables will, as last year, be entirely destroyed. We 
borough folks expect now to be quite happy. The squalling of geese at day- 
light, the bellowing of cattle, the kicking of horses, the audacity of swine, 
and the ' innomi nutus' odor of sheep, accompanied with their disagreeable 
bleating, shall entirely cease from annoying us. and we shall go forth at 
morning and evening", at sunsetting and sunrising, and fear no evil except 
from dogs, which, by the by, our burgess and council have entirely forgotten 
— and mad dogs, too, are they not subjects of legislation as well as geese? 
We expect, however, to have a ' revised code,' and then all things will be 
perfect." This was the second borough ordinance. 

On December 3, 1825, Ellis and Rankin Lewis started the first news- 
paper in the count}-, called the Pioneer. This was Willardsburg. 

In 1802 William H. Wells migrated from Delaware to what is now 
Wellsboro. 

" I know it has always been stated by our learned historians that Wells- 
boro was named in honor of Mary Hill Wells, the wife of Benjamin Wistar 

616 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Morris. It may be so. But at the time Wellsboro was named just a little 
way out on the old road toward Stony Fork lived William Hill Wells, a man 
so distinguished in civil life that he had sat in the United States Senate from 
1799 to 1804, and resigned his seat in order to move to the ' Beechwoods' of 
Tioga County, with his negro slaves and other material wealth ; a man so 
distinguished that after his return to Delaware he again represented that 
State in the United States Senate from 1813 to 1817. Gideon Wells, another 
brother of Mary Morris, a contractor and builder of the State roads running 
through this town on the line of Main Street during that formative period, 
also lived and owned lands in this immediate vicinity. Possibly Wellsboro 
was named in honor of the Wells family." — Hon. Charles Titbbs. 

The principal streams are the Pine Creek, declared a public highway by 
the Legislature, March 16, 1798; the Cowanesque River, Crooked Creek, 
Lycoming Creek, and the Tioga River. Crooked Creek is the principal 
tributary of the Tioga River. 

Indian trails were numerous, also Indian villages and Indian graveyards. 
Of the pioneer hunters, Wilson Freeman, in 1808, received sixteen dollars 
bounty for two panther heads. I might say here that panthers were killed 
in this wilderness measuring, from tip of nose to' end of tail, ten, eleven, 
and even twelve feet. In May, 1808, Timothy Coats, Isaac Gaylord, and 
James Whitney received thirty-two dollars for wolf and panther heads. 
Other hunters who received bounty that year were Aaron Freeman, Nathan 
Brown, Joshua Reynolds, Timothy Culver, Rufus Adams, and Titus Ives. 
President Theodore Roosevelt entirely underrates the courage and savagery 
of the panther of 1800. The panther has intelligence, and he thoroughly 
understands the improved fire-arms of to-day. Previous to 1784 the Indians 
carried captives from Pennsylvania over their trails to below Fort Niagara. 
French explorers, Moravian missionaries, hunters, and scouts passed over 
these trails previous to 1784. 

Eleazer Seelye, whose father was a very early settler, says, — 

" My father erected a cabin of bark set against a large pine log, and 
lived in it for a year and a half. He then built a log house. In this he lived 
the first winter without a floor, there being no saw-mill nearer than Painted 
Post. For a grist-mill we used a stump hollowed out by fire for a mortar, 
and a spring pestle. In this we pounded our samp for bread and pudding 
timber for two years. After a while several of the settlers clubbed together 
and purchased a pair of millstones about two feet in diameter, which we 
turned by hand. At first we could only raise corn. Wheat blasted, rusted, 
and would not mature. This state of things lasted seven or eight years, 
when wheat, rye, and oats began to be raised. The family dressed chiefly in 
deer-skins, and I was ten years old before I had a pair of shoes." 

General John Burrows, in a little pamphlet, gives his experience of a 
trip into Tioga County in 1802. He says, — 

617 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

"In iSoj I was elected a (Lycoming) county commissioner. About 
this time I received a letter from Dr. Tate introducing William Hill Wells 
to me, who had settled in the woods (near) where Wellsboro now stands, 
die county seat of Tioga. 

" Mr. Wells applied to me to furnish him with provisions in his new 
settlement. He had brought a number of negroes with him from the State 
of Delaware, where he moved from. I put eighty-eight hundred-weight of 
pork on two sleds and started to go to him with it. It was fine sledding, but 
dreadful cold weather. In crossing the Allegheny Mountains the man I 
had driving one of the teams froze his feet up to his ankles. I was obliged 
to leave him. and the next morning put die four horses to one sled, and die 
pork on it, and started for Wells's. I had to cross Pine Creek six times. A 
man coming into the settlement from that part of the county had frozen to 
death the day before. I passed him lying in the road. 

" The second crossing of the creek was about fifty yards wide : when 
the foremost horses got to the middle of the creek the ice broke with diem : 
the ice was about mid-side deep : and in dieir attempting to get on the ice 
again, drew the other horses and sled into die creek and pulled the roller 
out of the sled. I got the horses ashore and tied them, and then went back 
to the sled, and found the water running over die pork. I had to go partly 
under the water to get an axe tiiat was tied to the sled, to cut a road through 
the ice to get die sled ashore. Sometimes I was in die water up to my middle, 
and sometimes I was standing on die ice. The water following the stroke of 
the axe would fly up, and as soon as it touched me was ice. 

'" When I got the road cut to die shore I went to the sled, and, getting 
a log chain, reached under water and hooked it first to one runner and then 
to the other : then backed die horses in through the road, hitched to the sled, 
and pulled it out. 

" It was now dark. I had six mdes to go and four times to cross the 
creek, without a roller in my sled to guide it. On descending ground it 
would run out of the road, when I had difficulty to get it in the road again. 
There was not a dry thread on me. and the outside of my clothes was frozen 
stiff. It was twelve o'clock ^midnight) before I got to die mill, the first 
house before me : and there was neither hay nor stable when I got there. I 
thought my poor horses would freeze to death. 

" Next morning, as soon as the daylight appeared. I cut a stick and put 
a roller to my sled — the very wood seemed filled with ice. I started from 
there at ten o'clock, and had fifteen miles to go to Wells's. The snow was 
two feet deep and there was scarcely a track in the road. I met Mr. Wells's 
negro five miles this side of his house, coming to meet me, on horseback, 
about sunset. He said there was a by-road that was a mile nearer than the 
one I was on. and he undertook to pdot me. but soon lost the path and we 
wandered about among die trees rill at lengdi my sled pitched into a hole 

6iS 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

and upset. I then unhooked my horses from the sled and asked the negro if 
he thought he could pilot me to the house, but he acknowledged himself lost. 

" I looked about and took a view of the stars, and started with my four 
horses, leaving the pork in the wood, and fortunately reached Wells's. When 
I got there he had neither hay nor stable, or any kind of feed, nor any place 
to confine my horses, and I had to tie them to the trees. He had a place dug 
in a log that I could feed two of my horses at a time. 

" All the buildings that he had erected were two small cabins, adjoining 
each other, — one for himself and family, about sixteen feet square, that I 
could not stand straight in. — built of logs, with bark for an upper floor, and 
split logs for the lower floor. The negro cabin was a little larger, but built 
of the same material. I sat by the fire until morning. It took me all that 
day to get my pork to the house and settle. I started the next morning for 
home without any feed to give my horses, after they had stood there two 
nights, and the snow was up to their bellies. I have been particular in de- 
tailing the circumstances of this trip, leaving you to judge of the hardships 
that I had to endure. But it is only a specimen of much of the kind that 
I have had to encounter through life." This experience was on the State 
road built in 1799. 

The pioneer horse-races occurred in September. 1796, and continued 
for several weeks. (See Potter County history. 1 

The pioneer distillery was erected, in 1815. by Joshua Colvin. Rye and 
corn were used exclusively. The barter was six quarts of whiskey for one 
bushel of rye or corn. 

The pioneer grist-mill was built about 1810 by Thomas and Beecher. 

Lumbering boards and timber was carried on at an early date, but with- 
out much profit. 

Tanneries were erected before 1812. Coal was discovered as early as 
1792. To David demons is due the credit of being the pioneer operator 
and shipper of coal in and for the county. This was probably in 181 5. 

The pioneer meeting of the commissioners was held in Wellsboro, Octo- 
ber 20. 1808, in the Friends' log church, the first church edifice in the county. 

Wellsboro post-office was opened January 1. 1808, and Samuel Wells 
Morris was the pioneer postmaster. 

" The mail at that time was carried weekly, on horseback, over the State 
road from Williamsport. A pair of saddle-bags were sufficient to contain 
all the matter, with room to spare. Newspapers were few in those days, the 
Lycoming Gazette being the only paper printed within a radius of a hundred 
miles ; and as postage was high, few letters were written. No envelopes 
were in use then ; letters were written on foolscap and made as long as 
possible, covering all the available space, leaving only room enough for the 
address, when the sheet was folded and sealed with red wax or a wafer. A 
stamp or signet of some kind was used to press the paper into the wax or 

6ig 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

wafer, which left an impression and gave the enclosure an official appearance. 
The amount of postage was written, usually, on the upper right hand corner 
of the letter, and the price was governed by the distance carried. It was 
collected at the end of the route from the party to whom it was addressed. 
The name of the first mail-carrier has not come down to us, but in those 
days the duty was generally performed by a bright, active, venturesome boy. 
The route from Williamsport lay through a gloomy wilderness nearly all 
the way. The log cabins of settlers were few. Panthers and wolves roamed 
the forest, ami their howls frequently caused the mail-boy to spur up his 
horse and dash swiftly through the gloom. 

" One of the early mail-carriers was John Sheffer, Jr., born in Williams- 
port, February 8, 1803. When thirteen years of age he carried the mail 
from Williamsport to Painted Post on horseback, a distance of seventy-nine 
miles, by the way of the State and Williamson roads. The former started 
at Newberry and passed through Wellsboro. It required nerve in those days 
to make this journey, and when the youth of the rider is considered, it is 
still more remarkable. 

" It is probable that he either went by this route on going out, or on 
returning, as he could make a complete circuit by doing so. The Williamson 
road passed through Block-House, Blossburg, Covington, and Tioga. The 
first post-office in the county was established at the last-mentioned place 
January 1. 1S05. At Wellsboro he could leave the State road and proceed 
to Covington by the East and West pike, as it was called, or vice versa. It 
is highly probable therefore, that he made the round trip in this way/' 

The pioneer tavern-keeper in Wellsboro was X. Miller. 

" The old-time tavern was a place of good cheer and social enjoyment. 
Whiskey in those days cost three cents a drink, or five for a shilling ; twelve 
for twenty-five cents, and a long credit for three cents net, when marked 
down. The method of charging was a straight mark for a drink, and a 
tally mark for five, with the creditor's name at the top of a page. This 
method was adopted as a necessity, as it would sometimes have required two 
or three clerks to make the charges in the regular way." 

The pioneer teachers in the old meeting-house were Lydia Cole, Chaun- 
cey Alford, and Benjamin B. Smith. These were subscription schools under 
the law of 1809. The first public-school building in Wellsboro, was built of 
logs in 1835. The pioneer church building was erected about 1802. 

The Presbyterian church of Wellsboro was organized February 11, 1843. 
Rev. Thomas Foster was the supply for a year. 

The pioneer Methodist church service in Wellsboro was about the year 
1802. Rev. Caleb Boyer preached. 

Up to 1850 Tioga County had no conviction or execution for murder. 

Nearly all the facts as given in this history of Tioga County are taken or 
quoted from the history of Tioga County in 1897. 

620 



K5W 





CHAPTER XXXVII 



VENANGO COUNTY — -FORMATION OF COUNTY LOCATION OF COUNTY SEAT — 

TRAILS, PATHS, ROADS, AND TURNPIKES SETTLERS STORES SCHOOLS AND 

CHURCHES CANALS STEAMBOATS MAILS — MERCHANTS — RAILROADS 

SENECA OIL WAR OF l8l2 

" Venango * County was taken from Allegheny and Lycoming by act 
of March 12, 1800, and was organized for judicial purposes by act of April 
1, 1805. In 1839 its limits were curtailed by the establishment of Clarion 
County, the Clarion River having been previously the southeastern boundary. 
The county now forms a very irregular figure, with an area of about eight 
hundred and fifty square miles. Population in 1800, 1130; in 1810, 3060; 
in 1820,4915; in 1830, 9470; in 1840, 17,900. 

" The Allegheny River flows through the centre of the County in a direc- 
tion so very circuitous that there is not a point of the compass to which it 
does not direct its course. The country along its banks is exceedingly wild 
and rugged, the river-hills being high and precipitous. The valley is nar- 
row, but bounded alternately on either side by elevated alluvial lands, which 
furnish excellent sites for farms. French Creek, which comes in at Franklin, 
and Oil Creek a short distance above, are the other two principal streams. 
Raccoon, Tionesta, Pit-Hole, Sandy, and Scrubgrass Creeks, are streams of 
minor importance. All these streams flow in deeply indented valleys, ren- 
dering the general surface quite hilly ; and many of the component rocks of 
these hills pertaining to the lower conglomerates of the coal formation, make 
on the whole a rugged country. Still there are large bodies of what may be 
called good farming land. All the hills abound with iron ore of excellent 
quality. Bituminous coal is plenty in the southern part of the county, and 
some has been found within two or three miles of Franklin. Limestone 
abounds in the southwestern end of the county. A great advantage possessed 
by this county, is its pure water, which promotes good health. Fine water- 
powers exist on all the tributaries of the Allegheny, especially on French 
Creek. 



* Venango River was the name given by the French to French Creek. The word 
Venango is a corruption of the Indian word In-nun-gah, which had some reference to 
a rude and indecent figure carved upon a tree, which the Senecas found here when they 
first came to this region. 

621 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

PIONEER STEAMBOATING ON THE ALLEGHENY RIVER, 1824-62 — EXTRACTS TAKEN 
FROM NEWSPAPER WRITINGS OF WITHIE REYNOLDS, OF KITTANNING, 

PENNSYLVANIA, THE VETERAN STEAMBOAT AND RAILROAD MAN HIS 

SKETCHES WERE PUBLISHED IN l8/9 

" Now that there are some improvements being made at different points 
on the Allegheny River, perhaps a few lines from an old timer may be of some 
interest. From the occasional accounts given of the Allegheny, one would 
infer that the steamers that formerly plied on the stream were of but little 
importance as to size, speed, and comfort. True, the boats of early days were 
of small dimensions, their carrying capacity being about twenty-five tons, and 
their accommodations for passengers being correspondingly limited, but as 
time rolled on the demand for larger boats became a necessitv. 

" PIONEER BOATS 

" The first steamboat that ever passed up the Allegheny was named 
the ' Duncan.' She was very small and a side-wheeler. Her first trip was 
made to Franklin in 1824 or 1825. Captain James Murphy w ; as her pilot. The 
Captain is still living (1879) alK ' resides four miles above Freeport. 

"' The next boat was the ' Allegheny,' a stem-wheeler, and was quite an 
improvement on the ' Duncan.' Then came the ' Beaver,' ' Pulaski,' and 
'Forrest.' Then the 'Allegheny Belle No. 1,' commanded by Captain John 
Hanna. She was the first boat on the river that had a bell and a whistle, and 
Captain John took pains to let the people along the banks know it. About this 
time two boats, one named the ' Clarion' and the other the ' Justice.' were 
placed in the trade. 

" After these came the ' Cornplanter,' Captain T. H. Reynolds ; ' Clara 
Fisher,' Captain E. Gordon; ' Allegheny Belle No. 2,' Captain W. Hanna, and 
' Allegheny Belle No. 3,' the machinery of the No. 1 being placed on the latter. 
These four boats had the river to themselves for quite a time. 

" About 1855 the ' Venango' was built by and commanded by Captain 
Tom H. Reynolds, and the same year the ' Echo' was built by and commanded 
by Captain E. Gordon. After them, the ' Leclaire No. i." ' Leclaire No. 2.' 
' Echo No. 2.' ' Allegheny Belle No. 2,' ' Ida Reese," and ' Urilda ;' also the 
' Sam Snowden' and ' Alleghenv Clipper.' The two latter were on the river 
about 1850. 

" All of these boats had a carrying capacity of from two hundred to two 
hundred and fifty tons each, full-length cabins, and all the modern improve- 
ments (up to that time) in the way of machinery, etc. 

" Before the completion of the Allegheny Valley Railroad to Oil City 
these boats had all the business they could do, the up-trip consisting of boilers 
and engines for the oil country, returning with all the oil they could carry at 
two dollars and a half and three dollars per barrel : and to look back it seems 

622 




FORES 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

like a miracle that no accident occurred from fire. But to return to the days 
of the ' Planter,' ' Belle No. 2,' and ' Fisher.' These boats were the fastest 
that were ever on the Allegheny, and they made racing a business. The 
' Planter' and ' Belle No. 2' would always back out from the Allegheny wharf 
together, ' red hot,' and about the only time you could not see the blaze from 
the tops of the chimneys would be when they were lowered to pass under the 
bridges. I have frequently heard Jim Conner, pilot of the ' Planter,' call down 
to Tom O'Donnell that the ' Belle' was ' coming up on us.' ' All right,' would 
be the answer, ' I have 160, will soon be 190, and the rest easy, Jim, and say 
good-by to the " Belle." * Both these boats had four boilers, sixteen-inch cylin- 
ders, and six-feet stroke. When the water was too low in the Allegheny the 
' Planter' would sometimes go into the Pittsburg and Wheeling trade against 
the ' Diurnal' and ' Forrest City,' and I have seen her pass these boats while 
all were under way, so you may judge of her speed. 

" There are men still living who remember when all the freight of the 
upper country was carried on ' dug-outs,' or ' canoes,' that were propelled by 
sheer muscle from Pittsburg to Warren, and that carried large quantities of 
freight to the scattered landings, whence they were transported by pack-horses 
through a comparative wilderness to the interior. Then came the era of keel- 
boating, and this was followed by the steamboat, an invention of incalculable 
advantage to the times. 

" The Pittsburg Gazette of May 28, 1830, gives a long account of the first 
trip of the ' Allegheny.' She left Pittsburg on her third trip on the 14th of 
May, 1830, with sixty-four passengers and twenty-five or thirty tons of freight, 
and arrived at Warren at nine o'clock on the 19th, — three and one-half days 
running time, — and on the same evening she departed from Warren for Olean. 
At nine o'clock the next day she arrived opposite the Indian village of Corn- 
planter. Here a deputation of gentlemen waited on this ancient and well- 
known Seneca chief, and invited him on board this new and, to him, wonderful 
visitor, a steamboat. He was in all his native simplicity of dress and manner 
of living, lying on his couch, made of rough pine boards, and covered with 
deer-skins and blankets. His habitation, a two-story log house, was in a state 
of decay, without furniture, except a few benches, and wooden bowls and 
spoons to eat out of. The venerable chief was a lad in the French war, and 
fought at Braddock's defeat. He was a smart, active man, seemingly pos- 
sessed of all his strength of mind and perfect health. He, with his son, 
Charles, sixty years of age, and his son-in-law, came on board and remained 
until she passed six miles up, and then returned in their own canoe, after ex- 
pressing great pleasure. At eleven a.m. on Friday, the 21st of May, the ' Alle- 
gheny' landed safely at Olean Point. The boat experienced much trouble and 
delay in procuring wood, much of which was so green as to prevent, in a 
great measure, the raising of a proper head of steam. 

" Hacsard's Register for September, 1830, gives an account of a steam- 
40 625 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

boat celebration at Franklin, in honor of which an elegant banquet was set, 
and among the honored guests of the occasion is mentioned the name of our 
venerable townsman, Philip Mechling, Esq. Frederick Crary, father of the 
late T. G. Crary. of this place, was president of the meeting, at which were 
assembled some of the most notable men of that day and section. The follow- 
ing is a list of the steamboats that succeeded in the trade : 

'Forest.' November 5. 1S40. to April 9. 1S44; 'Pauline.' February 2, 
1841. to May 10. 1841: 'Pulaski.' April 20. 1841, to May 4. 1843: 'Alle- 
gheny Belle,' April 15. 1843, to December 11, 1850; 'Allegheny Belle Xo. 3.' 
March 5. 1851. to May 5, 1858: ' Mary Ann.' November 4. 1846, to Decem- 
ber jo, 1848; 'Arrow.' March jo, 1845. t0 November 30, 1846; 'Arrow- 
line,' October 13. 1847. to May 27. 1848; 'Arena,' October 23. 1847. to 
December o, 1840: 'Allegheny Belle No. 2,' March 15. 1850, to June 28, 
1858; 'Allegheny Belle No. 4.' March 10, 1850. to April 21, 1861; 'Alle- 
gheny Clipper.' November 11. 1848, to August 26, 1850; ' Franklin.' October 
28, 1844, to February 10. 1840: ' Fort Pitt.' December 30. 1848. to May 26.. 
1840; 'Hope No. 2.' April and May, 1848; ' Oneoto,' October 24, 1840. to 
August 5, 1847; ' Reveille.' April 5. 1850. to June 20, 1850: ' Thomas Scott.' 
November 15, 1840. to February 24. 1852; ' Star.' November 3. 1850: 'Vir- 
ginia,' November 20. 1850, to May 10. 1851 ; ' Wave No. 2.' November 16. 
1848. to May 11, 1850: ' Cornplanter,' April 9. 1851, to May 23. 1850: 
'Clarion.' August 1. 1851, to March 12. 1853: 'Clara Fisher; May 8. 1852. 
to December 7. 1857 : ' Echo.' March 22. 1858, to November 15, 1801 : ' Jus- 
tice.' December 1. 1851. to May 25, 1853; ' Thos. P. Ray,' December. 1852: 
'J. B. Gordon." December. 1852; ' Sam Snowden.' March 20, 1853. to Decem- 
ber 28, 1853: 'Nebraska.' October 12. 1853. to Tune 2. 1850: ' Acquilla,' 
November. 1855: ' Venango." February 1. 1858. to April 27. 1802: after 
which, on the completion of the Allegheny Valley Railroad to Kittanning. 
the steamboat trade began to decline, although some of the finest boats of the 
trade continued tor several years. The 'Echo No. 2.' ' Leclaire No. 1/ ' Pe- 
trolia No. i." ' Petrolia No. 2.' 'Peerless.' 'Cottage.' ' Urilda.' 'Ida Reese.' 
and ' Belle' were steamers famous for their speed and accommodation. Dur- 
ing the war a number of these last were subsidized by the government for 
service in the South, and terminated their career in the service as transports. 
" During the days of steamboating on the Allegheny it was quite a sight 
to witness the immense quantities of freight that were piled on the Duquesne 
wharf in Pittsburg awaiting shipment. The entire wharf from what is now 
the suspension bridge to the St. Clair Street bridge would be tilled with piles 
of freight, and in the rafting season from rive hundred to six hundred pas- 
sengers left daily on the different boats. They were a rude, jolly, and good- 
hearted set of men. these woodsmen, who earned good wages on their semi- 
annual trips, and spent with a reckless liberality and outlay their well-earned 
money. In those days Jim Lynch's saloon on Irwin Street, in the rear of 

020 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

what is now the Hotel Boyer, was a famous resort for raftsmen, and the 
quantity of 'old Monongahela' consumed there during the progress of a rise 
was something fearful to contemplate. 

" During these excursions the Pittsburg policemen had their hands full, 
as these sons of the forest were generally powerful and stalwart men, as 
capable of executing as they were ready to threaten to whip their ' weight in 
wild-cats.' After they had indulged in a close and familiar inspection of the 
'elephant' they would turn up on the wharf with a twenty-five-cent oil-cloth 
satchel or carpet-sack filled with peanuts, a bottle of whiskey in each pocket, 
ami a remnant of their wages, happy and contented and ready for another 
year's hard service. The Cornplanter Indians furnished some of the finest 
raft pilots on the river. Their intimate and intuitive knowledge of the water 
in all stages made their skill invaluable to the craft, and the vast amount 
of money invested in the immense fleets of lumber rendered their service a very 
important duty. The wild orgies they held during the return trip, generally 
in good humor, made the passage anything but a desirable one to timid people, 
and bad as the Indian generally is, he was less harmful than the wdiite savage. 
though the aboriginal nature would often assert itself in war-whoops and 
suggestions of the scalp-dance. Among the motley crowd were generally a 
lot of fiddlers, who carried their instruments with them to while away the 
hours, and dancing to the sprightly measures of ' Hell on the Wabash' was 
a favorite pastime. 

"The Allegheny River in those early days was the only highway of 
transportation for the immense lumber product of the pine-forests on the 
head-waters of the Allegheny, and in the spring and fall such large quantities 
of it was afloat in the river that the perils of navigation were very great, as 
they were compelled often to run day and night. It required the greatest 
skill and accuracy of vision to steer clear of these immense flotillas in the 
night time that often floated in the dim light without lights sufficient to be 
discerned at any distance on a cloudy night. 

" The prominent landings of the river above Kittanning were Catfish, 
where all the freight for upper Clarion and Jefferson Counties was delivered. 
Red Bank was the chief point for Clarion County and Gray's Eddy, and 
Mahoning for Jefferson County through to Punxsutawney. An immense 
freight traffic was carried on at these points during the season, and the ware- 
houses of James Watterson, at Red Bank ; Gould, at Catfish ; Elisha Robin- 
son, at Parker's Landing; Captain Robert Thompson, at Gray's Eddy ; and 
Jere Bonner, at Mahoning, were, during the fall and winter seasons, crowded 
to their utmost capacity with the immense bulk of freightage necessary to 
supply the adjacent regions. 

" The first oil, of that important traffic that has grown to such gigantic 
proportions, was transported to Pittsburg by the steamer ' Venango.' from 
Oil City, in the fall of 1859. There were fifty barrels of the greasy substance 

627 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

that in those days brought large prices for uses that have since been so 
largely extended. The wildest visionary could scarcely have dreamed any- 
thing more fabulous or so unlikely as the history of this great product, that 
from those incipient beginnings of little note has grown to a business that 
extends throughout the whole of the civilized world. The romance of 
Alladin's lamp has been more than realized in the colossal fortunes it has 
compassed in success and failure and the great benefits its discovery has 
conferred upon the civilized world. In mention of the speed made by the 
boats of that day we may note that the ' Cornplanter.' under command of 
Captain Thos. H. Reynolds, made daily trips from Pittsburg to Catfish Land- 
ing, leaving Pittsburg in the evening and reaching her destination at ten 




Rafting to Pittsburg on the Allegheny River 



o'clock the next day, returning to Pittsburg for her evening trip, a distance 
of one hundred and fifty miles. 

" Among the noted resorts, too, of Pittsburg that were most frequented 
bv rivermen in the good old days, we must not forget to mention Ben Trim- 
ble's Varieties, that were carried on with such liberal patronage from the 
up-river men. This noted resort was in the building adjoining Joseph 
Home's famous dry-goods house, and in its days was one of the most enter- 
taining places of amusement in the city. In the rafting season it was crowded 
with rivermen, who roared themselves hoarse at the broad fun and farce 
that characterized the extended programme. 

" Among the pilots of the past we remember Thos. McLemmon. who still 

628 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

resides in Kittanning (1879), Good Mead, Jim Hulings, Jake Magee, Henry 
Bolinger, Nelse Bartholomew, Bill Watterson, Robert Conner, John Conner, 
Bill Conner, Matt Conner, Thos. Murphy, Alf. Russell, John Russell, Wm. 
Russell, Peter A. Smith, G. A. Renshaw, Dan Jack, Cal Russell, James 
McCain, Hugh McCain, Geo. London, and many others whose names have 
escaped our memory. 

" The Susquehanna and Waterford Turnpike road passes diagonally 
through the county, crossing the Allegheny River at Franklin on a splendid 
new bridge. The French Creek Canal and Slackwater Navigation, a division 
of the public improvements of the State, opens a communication from Frank- 
lin to Meadville, and thence by means of the Beaver and Erie extension (nearlv 
completed in 1843) to Lake Erie. The principal productions of the county for 
export are lumber and iron. There are several furnaces in operation in a circle 
of ten or twelve miles around Franklin. This trade for a few years was 
driven with great activity, so much so as to absorb all the agricultural produce 
of the region ; but for one or two years past it has been depressed in common 
with other departments of industry. 

" There are several natural curiosities in the county, the most remarkable 
of which is the peculiarly inflammable oil found floating on the surface of Oil 
Creek. The following interesting extract from one of several historical num- 
bers which appeared in the (Franklin) Democratic Arch, in 1842, relates to 
this subject : 

The Seneca oil from the oil springs on Oil Creek was used bv the 
Seneca Indians as an unguent, and in their religious worship. It is almost as 
celebrated as the far-famed naphtha of the Caspian Sea. With it the Senecas 
mixed their war-paint, which gave them a hideous glistening appearance, and 
added great permanency to the paint, as it rendered it impervious to water. 
What a startling spectacle the oil-anointed warrior of the Senecas must have 
been as he gave forth the fearful war-whoop, or paddled his light canoe along 
the dark blue waters of the Allegheny and Venango ! 

' The other use made of the oil was for religious worship. Here I can- 
not better describe it than in the imaginative language of the commandant of 
Fort Duquesne to his Excellency General Montcalm, the unfortunate hero of 
Quebec. " I would desire," says the commandant, " to assure your Excellency 
that this is a most delightful land. Some of the most astonishing natural won- 
ders have been discovered by our people. While descending the Allegheny, 
fifteen leagues below the mouth of the Conewango, and three above Fort 
Venango, we were invited by the chief of the Senecas to attend a religious 
ceremony of his tribe. We landed and drew up our canoes on a point where 
a small stream entered the river. The tribe appeared unusually solemn. We 
marched up the stream about half a league, where the company, a large band 
it appeared, had arrived some days before us. Gigantic hills begirt us on 
every side. The scene was really sublime. The great chief then recited the 

629 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

conquests and heroism of their ancestors. The surface of the stream was 
covered with a thick scum, which burst into a complete conflagration. The 
oil had been gathered and lighted with a torch. At the sight of the flames the 
Indians gave forth a triumphant shout, that made the bills and valley re-echo 
again !" 1 [ere then is revived the ancient fire-worship of the East ; there then 
are the " Children of the Sun." 

" A more appropriate region could hardly be selected for the residence of 
an Indian tribe. The rugged hills, clothed with forests, and abounding with 
game: the pure sparkling streams flowing among these hills, furnishing both 
excellent fishing-grounds and the means of communication, bordered here 
and there with fertile bottom lands, as sites for their villages and cornfields, 
and overlooked by remarkable headlands and ' high places' for their graves 
and places of worship : some of these hills containing lead, too, and perhaps 
other metals greatly prized by them, — these were strong attractions for the 
red natives of the forest. Accordingly we find in almost every direction 
traces of a numerous Indian population once inhabiting this region. Remains 
of villages are found at the mouth of Oil Creek, and about the mouth and 
along the waters of French Creek. 

" About five miles directly south of Franklin, and nine by the river, on the 
left bank of the Allegheny, is a remarkable rock, known to the present in- 
habitants as ' the Indian God.* " — Pay's Collections. 

" The next important personages who made their appearance upon these 
shifting scenes were the sires of those who now occupy the soil. A few, in- 
deed, of the original settlers still remain. The original adventurers, who 
came in under the act of 171)2, were from different sections of the country; 
some from New England, some from Wyoming Valley, and many from the 
middle counties of Pennsylvania. They endured the usual hardships of a 
frontier life until after Wayne's treaty, in 1795, when alarms ceased, popula- 
tion flowed in more rapidly, and they continued to prosper, especially after the 
litigation that originated under the land law of T~i)2 had been quieted. 

*' The following description of Fort Franklin is from a writer in the 
Democratic Arch: 

"'In the spring of 1787 a company of United States troops, under the 
command of Captain Hart, arrived at this place from Fort Pitt, now Pitts- 
burg. They amounted in number to eighty-seven, including officers. There 
were, perhaps, a dozen of other persons not immediately connected with the 
corps, and this constituted the whole force at that time. Immediately on their 
arrival, they commenced erecting what they called Fort Franklin, ami from 
which the name of our town is derived. In place of locating it at the mouth 
of French Creek, so as to command that stream, as well as the Allegheny 
River, they made their location about one hundred and eighty rods above 
the mouth of the former, and at a point that would not at all command the 
latter. The road from Fort Pitt to Le Bceuf crossed the creek within a few 

630 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

rods of the fort, and, bad as the reason may appear, it was perhaps the only 
one that induced the selection. It was a mere path then, but the fording was 
good, and the ascent of the opposite hill was the most practicable from it. 
Indeed, the existence of this path, and the erection of the fort near it, in- 
duced those who settled here at an early period to make their locations also 
as near as possible to both these supposed advantages. The road, or path, 
was the only inland thoroughfare to the place, and on it, in the town, was 
established the hotel, and near this the merchant erected his stall, and the 
mechanic his shop. Thus was that town in time built upon its present site, 
far from where strangers think it ought to have been located. 

" ' Fort Franklin was located immediately above and west of the south 
end of the French Creek bridge, and consequently on the south bank of 
French Creek. Like old Fort Venango, it is a parallelogram, the out-works 
including about one hundred feet square. These works consisted of high em- 
bankments, outside of which arose tall pine pickets, sixteen feet high. There 
were four bastions, surmounted by small cannon. Within the area formed by 
the ditches was the block-house, with a huge stack of chimneys in the centre. 
In this building were the magazine and munitions. The huts of the soldiers 
were in the ditch around the blockhouse, and within the pickets. This fort 
was situated on a bluff bank of the creek, twenty-five or thirty feet high, and 
nearly perpendicular. To this day is distinctly to be seen a deep ditch running 
along the top, and near the edge of this bank, some one hundred and twenty 
feet in length, up the creek. This was intended for a covered way leading 
from the fort to a small redoubt at the very margin of the creek, which was 
surmounted by two guns — 4-pounders, I think. The garrison had what they 
called a green-house, or cave, in which they kept vegetables and meat, within 
a few feet of the excavation now being made at the end of the bridge for 
the site of a new toll-house. A garrison of near one hundred, including 
officers and men, was kept at Fort Franklin until 1796, when what is familiarly 
known as the " Old Garrison," at the mouth of the creek, was erected by the 
troops at the fort, at a point more convenient for receiving provisions and 
munitions brought up by boats and canoes from Pittsburg. It was a strong 
wooden building, a story and a half high, and perhaps thirty by thirty-four 
feet in length. It was picketed in, but not calculated to be mounted with 
cannon. Indeed, the necessity for this had ceased, as the treaty of General 
Wayne with the Indians at Fort Greenville had been made in August, 1795, 
and was then believed, as it turned out to be, a lasting peace. The troops 
at this position removed from the fort, which was from that time suffered 
to dilapidate, and occupied the garrison. This they continued to do until 1803, 
when they were withdrawn from Franklin altogether. Fort Franklin soon 
went entirely to ruin. The stone in the chimneys, like those in Fort Venango, 
were hauled away by the citizens of the place, and used in building founda- 
tions and chimneys for private dwellings. The " Old Garrison" was occu- 

631 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

pied from the organization of the county, in 1805, until 1819 as a common 
fail, when the county jail was completed. It remained standing, though in 
ruins, until 1S24, when the last vestige disappeared. Indeed, I am told that 
the very foundation on which it stood has been washed away, and is now part 
of the bed of French Creek.' 

" Franklin, the county seat, was laid out by the commissioners, General 
William Irvine and Andrew Ellicott, under the act of 1795, at the same time 
with the Waterford Turnpike, and the towns of Erie and Waterford. It con- 
tains the usual county buildings, and Presbyterian, Methodist, and Cumber- 
land Presbyterian churches. It is situated upon a broad plain, a little above 
the mouth of French Creek, and is surrounded with scenery highly picturesque. 
There are in the vicinity a furnace, a forge, and several mills, and the place 
derives considerable trade from several iron works in the surrounding region. 
The French Creek division of the Pennsylvania canal terminates here, and 
when the Beaver and Erie canal is completed, a communication will be open 
from here to the lake. The Allegheny is navigable, in high water, for steam- 
boats to Pittsburg — distance, by water, one hundred and twenty-four miles. 
The distance by land is only sixty-eight miles. Two dams on the French 
Creek navigation, within a mile of the town, afford an immense water-power; 
and there are several other dams farther up the creek. A splendid new 
bridge crosses the Allegheny here, and there is also one across French Creek. 
Population in 1840, 595. It was made a borough April 14, 1828." — Day's 
Collections. 

" Among the first settlers at this place were Mr. George Powers and Mr. 
William Connolly. Mr. Connolly came from Meadville in 1800. Mr. Powers 
came out, in 1787, to assist in erecting the barracks, and subsequently came 
in 1793 on his own account, and established a store to trade with the Indians. 
Samuel Ray and John Andrews came in 1795. In 1797 there were only three 
or four white families in Franklin. 

" In the war of 1812 this county was well represented. A call was 
issued for all the able-bodied men to go to Erie, to protect the frontier from 
an anticipated attack at that point. All who could be spared from their 
homes repaired to the scene of expected action. Of the regiment that was 
formed from this and some of the neighboring counties, Samuel Dale was 
elected lieutenant-colonel. He was a native of Union County, but had resided 
in Franklin for many years. About this time the Seneca chief, Cornplanter, 
came to see Colonel Dale, to inquire into the cause of the war. When this 
was explained to him, he declared his willingness to accompany him with two 
hundred warriors. He insisted on the propriety of his going. The corn was 
planted, and the young men could go as well as not to assist in the war with 
their white neighbors. Colonel Dale could satisfy him only by agreeing to 
call upon him should it be actually necessary. During the war Franklin 
presented quite a busv aspect. All the military and naval stores were brought 

632 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

up from Pittsburg in keel-boats, thence up French Creek to Waterford, and 
thence by teams to Erie. It was a matter of surprise to the British how Perry's 
fleet was equipped under the circumstances, as they were ignorant of this 
inland communication with Pittsburg. All these boats were pushed up by 
hand, with the assistance of the captain, in places where the water was spe- 
cially rapid. 

" From the organization of the county, in 1800, to 1805 it was associated 
for judicial purposes with the neighboring counties of Warren, Butler, Mercer, 
Erie, and Crawford, with the seat of justice at Meadville. The first court 
held was presided over by Judge Alexander Addison. By act of April 1, 
1805, Venango was fully organized for judicial purposes, with Franklin as the 
county seat. The first court was held in a log house on Liberty Street, 
facing West Park. Jesse Moore was the first judge. He was succeeded by 
N. B. Eldred, in 1839. The first court-house was erected in 181 1. It was 
of stone, on West Park, and facing what is now Plumer's Block. A second 
court-house was built of brick in 1848, on South Park, and facing up Liberty 
Street. 

" The old garrison was used as a jail from 1805 to 1819, when a small 
stone building was erected for the purpose, on the South Park. There was a 
yard attached to one end of it, surrounded by a stone wall about twelve feet 
in height, with a well in the inclosure. The cells were lined with oak plank 
about five inches in thickness. 

" Franklin, the county seat, is the oldest town in the county. It was 
located on lands belonging to the State. On the 24th day of March, 1789, it 
was resolved by the General Assembly ' that not exceeding three thousand 
acres be surveyed for the use of the Commonwealth, at the Fort of Venango.' 
By act of April 18, 1795, commissioners were appointed to survey one thou- 
sand acres of the reservation at the mouth of French Creek, and lay off 
thereon the town of Franklin. The commissioners designated for this pur- 
pose were General William Irvine and Andrew Ellicott. Mr. Ellicott had 
charge of the surveying, and General Irvine of the military escort of fifty 
men. The name was probably suggested by the name of the fort. The 
plot selected lies along the south branch of French Creek and the west bank 
of the Allegheny River. The valley in which it is situated is about two 
miles in length and about half a mile in breadth, surrounded on every side 
by bold, precipitous hills, rising to the height of about one hundred feet. The 
town is beautifully laid out with wide streets, crossing each other at right 
angles, with the exception of Twelfth Street, where there is an acute angle 
to accommodate a flexure in the creek. 

" The pioneer school-house of Venango County was built of logs and 
covered with clap-boards, which were held to their places by ' weight-poles.' 
The heating apparatus consisted of an old-fashioned ' fireplace.' A wide, 
sloping board, attached to the walls, and a plank or a slab, with peg-legs, and 

633 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

without a back, served respectively for desk and seat. The floor was laid 
with puncheons. 

" For windows, a log on each side of the room was sawed out. and in 
the winter these openings were covered with greased paper. 

" In such a house James Mason taught the first school in Franklin, in 
1801-02. The first academy building- was erected in 1815 or 1S16, and Mr. 
Kelley taught in it until 1823." 

The pioneer academy was erected in Franklin in 1815. The pioneer 
mail route in the county was in 1802. from Erie to Pittsburg, carried on 
horseback, and came once every three weeks. The carrier's name was Ash. 
He carried a tin horn to announce his coming. Mr. Ash carried the mail 
from Meadville to Franklin, and afterward from Franklin to Warren. 

For some time after the pioneer court-house was erected, court was 
called by a long tin horn purchased at the county's expense. This horn was 
used by John Morrison, who opened the pioneer court in Mercer, Crawford, 
and Warren Counties. 

The pioneer doctor in Franklin and Aenango Counties was T. G. 
Symonds. Whence he came no one knows. 

The pioneer effort to organize an agricultural societv was in Franklin in 
1838. 

The pioneer navigation of the Allegheny by the white man was the 
expedition of Celoron in 174Q. This river has had several names. The 
Shawnee Indians called it Palawa-Thoriki ; the Delawares named it Alligawi 
Sipu. after a race of Indians which they believed had once dwelt upon the 
stream. This tribe was called Alleghans by Colden in the London edition of 
his work, and Lewis Evans, on his map published in 1755. called the river the 
Alleghan. The Senecas called it Ho-he-u, which name the French adopted, 
connecting it with the Ohio as the same stream. 

The pioneer to make his home in Franklin was George Powers, in 1787. 

Thomas Skelley McDowell was the first white child born in the town, 
April 26. 1803. 

" The first successful steam navigation of the Allegheny River occurred 
in 1828. and marks the beginning of a new era in economic development and 
internal communication in Western Pennsylvania. The following account of 
the first steamboat appeared in the Venango Democrat of March 4. 1828: 

'" ' A STEAMBOAT OX THE ALLEGHEXV 

On Sunday evening, the 24th of February, the citizens of this place 
were somewhat alarmed by the discharge of a field-piece down the Allegheny 
River. Another report soon followed: then the cry. "A steamboat!" re- 
sounded in all directions, and the citizens, great and small, were seen flock- 
ing to the river to welcome her arrival. She proved to be the " William D. 
Duncan." of one hundred and ten tons. Captain Crooks. She left Pittsburg 

054 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

on Friday at three o'clock p.m., and arrived at Kittanning, a distance of forty- 
five miles, the same evening; left Kittanning at ten a.m., and arrived at this 
place on Sunday at five p.m., after stopping at Lawrenceburg (now Parker) 
and other places. The actual time occupied in running the whole distance, 
one hundred and forty miles, was twenty-eight hours, averaging five miles 
an hour. We understand she could have made the trip in much less time, but. 
it being the first, her engineer was afraid of applying her full power to the 
current. She had on board several tons of freight, and about one hundred and 
fifty ladies and gentlemen from Pittsburg, Freeport, Kittanning, and Law- 
renceburg came as passengers. On Monday morning a party was got up in 
town, who took an excursion of eight miles up the river to Oil Creek furnace, 
for the double purpose of the pleasure of the trip and as a remuneration to 
the enterprising owners for the visit. She steamed the current at the rate of 
between five and six miles an hour, and came down in twenty-one minutes. 
The day was fine, the trip pleasant, all were highly gratified, and the accom- 
modation was excellent. On Tuesday morning she took her departure for 
Pittsburg, where, we understand, she arrived next morning, without meeting 
with a single accident to mar the pleasure of their experiment. We learn that 
two other boats are making preparations for ascending the Allegheny, and 
that one of them may be expected here on Friday or Saturday next. It is 
expected they will ascend the river as far as Warren, for which place we 
understand they have been chartered. This, it is expected, will put an end to 
the controversy between the citizens of Pittsburg and Wheeling as to which 
is located at the head of steamboat navigation.' 

" The pioneer steamboat built for the river was the ' Allegheny,' in 1830. 
Her first trip to Franklin was April 16, 1830, and to Warren, April 23, 1830. 
It went up to Olean, New York, and returned to Pittsburg. 

" Stern-wheel steamboats were introduced upon the western waters in 
1830. This innovation in nautical construction was the invention of a Mr. 
Blanchard." 

It was not an unusual thing to see a large Olean raft on the river, with 
a team of horses, a cow, a girl cooking, and the mother spinning flax ; these 
were emigrants going to Ohio or Indiana State. Previous to steamboating, 
all commerce on the river was carried on by canoes or keel-boats pushed by 
men. From and after 1828 steamboats carried men and goods up and down 
the river. The Pennsylvania Canal was finished to Freeport about 1828. Two 
surveys were made of the river by the United States, with a view to digging 
a canal along the valley. — viz.. one in 1829 and one in 1837. 

The pioneer road through Venango County was the Le Bceuf. There is 
no record, but it was probablv opened in 1754. 

The Pittsburg, Kittanning and Warren Railroad was chartered April 4. 

1837- 

The pioneer weekly mail route was opened in 1801 between Pittsburg and 

635 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Erie, by way of Butler, Franklin, Meadville, and Waterford. Horseback was 
the mode of transportation. 

The pioneer post-office in the county was in 1801, at Franklin. Alex- 
ander McDowell was postmaster. 

The pioneer protestant minister to preach in the town was a Presbyterian, 
in 1801. The services were held in David Irvine's home. 

The pioneer Sunday-school in Franklin was founded in 1S24 bv Rev. 
Timothy Alden ; it was a union school. 

The pioneer merchant in Franklin was George Power. 

There were Indian paths that led in several directions from Franklin. 
The old Venango trail led down until it struck the Ohio at Logstown ; another 
led northeast to the lakes. 

Ferries were the first means of crossing the streams. French Creek had 
two ferries. 

On one occasion a preacher was crossing the Allegheny Ferrv, which 
was kept by a stout Dutchman who was very just and honest. The preacher 
thought to let the Dutchman know the nature of his cloth, and inquired, " How 
much do you charge preachers ?" The reply was, " Veil, we do not charge 
them any more as we do other fellows. We don't take no advantage of de 
breacher any more as we do of de farmer." 

Irwin Township is older than Venango County. The pioneer settlers 
in Irwin Township were Adam Dinsmore and Henry Crull, in 1796. 

The pioneer hotel in Irwin Township was a log house erected about 
t8oo and kept by Henry Crull. 

The pioneer grist-mill in Irwin Township was built in 1805 by John 
Crain. 

" In June. 1817, owing, no doubt, to a scarcity of the necessaries of life, 
for at this period Irwin Township was but a wilderness, John J. Kilgore with 
two companions went to Franklin, hired a canoe, and paddled down the river 
to Pittsburg, where they bought a load of provisions and returned, pushing 
the canoe up the stream with poles, and making the trip in ten days. During 
that time they slept but one night under a roof. Game was abundant in those 
days. In 1819 there was a heavy fall of snow, and it is related by Mr. Kil- 
gore's son tiiat his father, in company with his hired man. killed sixteen 
deer in one day. 

" It is related that a Mormon preacher named Snow came to Irwin 
Township in 1837, and among his converts were Henry Stevenson and several 
daughters and a man by the name of David McKee. These two and their 
families were taken to Salt Lake City by Snow." 

Among the early settlers in A'enango County were about twenty-five 
Revolutionary soldiers. - 



636 



«^y» e^yd e/*y* «£?y» s/^» e-£gy» «£*v» e-^v* ©£*y» 



CHAPTER XXXVIII 



WARREN COUNTY FORMATION OF COUNTY SETTLERS LOCATION OF COUNTY 

SEAT COURTS PATHS AND ROADS RIVER TRAVEL LUMBERING INDIANS 

SLAVERY- — CORNPLANTER RESERVATION CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS 

STAGE TRAVEL, ETC. 

" Warren County was taken from Allegheny and a portion of Lycoming 
County by the act of March 12, 1800. By the act of 1805 the county was 
annexed to Venango for judicial purposes. On the 16th of March, 1819, the 
county was fully organized, and the seat of justice fixed at Warren. Length, 
thirty-two miles east and west, breadth, twenty-six miles ; area, eight hun- 
dred and thirty-two square miles. Population in 1800, 230; in 1810, 827; 
in 1820, 1976; in 1830, 4706; in 1840, 9278. The county was named for 
General Joseph Warren. 

" The Allegheny River runs, with its meanderings, not less than fifty 
miles within the county, entering at the northeast corner and leaving at the 
southwest. It consists of extensive sheets of dead water and short ripples, 
and furnishes power to drive several extensive saw-mills at different points. 
The Conewango Creek, which enters the county from the State of New 
York, and meets the Allegheny at Warren, is also a large and navigable stream, 
and turns many valuable mills. The other principal streams are the Broken- 
straw, Little Brokenstraw, Tionesta, Tidioute, Kinjua, Stillwater, Coffee, and 
Fairbank Creeks, and Jackson's, Alkley's, Valentine's, and Morrison's Runs, 
etc., — on all of which the lumbering business is carried on extensively (1843). 

" The surface of the county is undulating, and, near the large streams, 
deeply indented and sometimes rocky. The lands in the townships contiguous 
to the State line are generally of good quality, and will admit of dense settle- 
ments ; and the same may be said of those between Brokenstraw and Cone- 
wango Creeks, except the river hills. ' The land between the two Broken- 
straw Creeks,' says another writer, ' for several miles is stony and broken 
indeed. A land speculator from " the land of steady habits," once travelling 
over it, where " stones peep o'er stones, and rocks on rocks arise," remarked, 
that " it would never be settled till it was settled by an airthquake." ' Beyond 
this, near the Crawford County line, is a large body of good land. On all the 
rivers of the county are broad alluvial margins, producing corn and wheat 
abundantly when properly cultivated. Previous to the year 1827 that part of 
the countv southeast of the Alleghenv River was but little known or explored, 

'637 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

and the land abandoned by its owners was principally sold for taxes; but 
since the titles could be perfected, settlers have moved in, and found the 
region to be well timbered, supplied with abundant water-power, and contain- 
ing much good arable laud. 

In a letter written by General William Irvine, of the Revolutionary 
army, to General Washington, after the close of the war, concerning- the best 
means of opening a water communication between Lake Erie and tbe Ohio, he 
makes allusion to the traces and traditions then existing of an old road 
cut by the French over the portage between Chautauqua Lake and Lake Erie, 
and intimates his belief that it was once or twice used by them and afterwards 
abandoned for the Presque Isle portage. This must have been between the 
years 1728 and 1750. Previous to this, and subsequently, this whole region 
was owned and occupied by the Seneca Indians. In the year 1784 the treaty 
to which Cornplanter was a party was made at Fort Stanwix, ceding the whole 
of Northwestern Pennsylvania to the Commonwealth, with the exception of 
a small individual reserve to Cornplanter. The frontier, however, w 7 as not at 
peace for some years after that, nor, indeed, until Wayne's treaty, in 1795. 
About the time of Wayne's treaty (and some say even previous to that event, 
and as early as 1700. but it is not at all probable) several adventurous Irish- 
men started from Philadelphia, and. passing up die Susquehanna and Sinne- 
mahoning, penetrated the wilderness of McKean County, built canoes, and 
launched them upon the waters of the Allegheny at Canoe Place, two miles 
above Port Allegheny. Floating down past Clean to the mouth of Cone- 
wango, they left the river, and made the first settlement in Warren County, 
among the beechwoods of Pine Grove and Sugar Grove Townships. Their 
names were Robert Miles. John Russel. John Frew, John and Hugh Marsh, 
and Isaiah Jones. When they arrived upon their lands, their whole stock of 
' specie and specie funds' was only three dollars ! 

" About the year 1705 the venerable James Morrison (who died in 1840, 
at the age of one hundred and four years') came out, and took up the large 
island at the mouth of Kinjua Creek. He was also the owner of Morrison's 
Island, at the mouth of Morrison's Creek, a few miles above Warren. At 
Irwinville James Harriot built the first mills, about the year 1812 or 1813. 
Messrs. Faulkner, Wilson, Smith, and Hall were the first settlers near Pine 
Grove, about the years 1810 to i8jo. The McKitmey family were also early 
settlers: John settled on Rrokenstraw, and Barney and Michael on the Cone- 
wango. Major Robert Andrews, and Messrs. Hicks. Wilson. Youngs, and 
Rinnear. were also early settlers on Rrokenstraw. Most of them were lum- 
bermen. Tomes, an Irishman, and Daniel MeOuav. also settled on Broken- 
straw. 

"' ' Among the earlier settlers and most enterprising lumbermen of the 
county was Jacob Hook, better known, perhaps, as " Jake Hook." He emi- 
grated either from Boston or Maine somewhere about the year 1708. bringing 

638 



NEW 



YORK. 




OUTLIfJ E /W/\ /=•- /SS'O - 
VENANGO 



j flfa/-c fr-/ a -' Boo 
F O R t S T 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

with him, as his stock in trade, a package of the bills of some bank that had 
failed so recently " down east," that Jake had time to circulate his bills here 
before the, failure became known. This served to start him ; and eventually, 
by dint of sharp bargains and hard work, rolling saw-logs, digging mill-races, 
and other speculations appurtenant to a lumber country, Jake arrived to the 
dignity of owning more mills and running more lumber than any other man 
in the county. In connection with some of his speculations, the charge of 
perjury had been fastened upon him, and he had made himself extremely ob- 
noxious to many of the citizens. A party attempted to arrest him for trial, 
and he killed one of them in the affray, was tried for his life, but escaped by an 
informality in the legal proceedings. The following is from the New York 
Censor, copied into the Conetuango Emigrant of July 21, 1824: "It was 
proved on this trial that seven men, headed by one Asa Scott, went to the 
house of Hook, about four miles above Warren, on the left bank of the 
Allegheny, between sunset and dark on the 25th of March, for the avowed 
purpose of taking Hook to Warren that night. They all admitted that they 
intended to use force is necessary. One said that they meant to take him at all 
events. These persons were inimical to Hook with one or two exceptions, and 
had with them one or two loaded rifles. On arriving at Hook's they found 
his doors fastened. One of the company endeavored to prevail on him to 
surrender; but he refused, alleging that he feared to trust himself with such 
men. About nine o'clock Scott and his followers went to the house and de- 
manded admittance ; but he persisted in stating that he considered himself in 
danger, and that he looked upon them as a mob. Scott also stated that, on his 
demanding admittance, Hook informed him, by a token peculiar to a particular 
society, that he was in danger, and that he (Scott) assured him that he would 
be safe. Scott immediately burst open the outer door with considerable vio- 
lence ; and almost at the same instant a gun was fired off within the house, 
by which one of the assailants (Caleb Wallace) was killed, and another 
wounded. On the trial, the counsel for the prosecution attempted to show 
that Scott was a deputy-sheriff, and had a legal warrant for Hook for perjury. 
The court, however, on examining the deputation under which he pretended 
to act, decided that it was void, and gave him no authority." Hook was 
acquitted on that ground. He had always been at sword's points with the 
Warren people, and this affair had no tendency to heal the breach. He died 
about 1829 or 1830. 

" The settlement of Warren County, more than of any of the neighboring 
counties, was greatly retarded by the misconstructions and litigation result- 
ing from the land law of 1792, and the peculiar management of the Holland 
Land Company. This company, under the act of 1792, had taken up the 
greater portion of the best lands in the county, northwest of the Allegheny 
and Conewango ; and, by way of aiding and encouraging settlers upon their 
lands, they established a large store at Warren — one of the first buildings 

41 641 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

erected in the place. Daniel iVIcQuay had charge of it. Pine lumber, how- 
ever, was the great object of pursuit in this county, and not agriculture, and 
so long as a lumberman had but the color of a title, he would remain long 
enough on the laud to cut the timber, and then set up a claim to a new tract. 
Manx- thus made entries under the act of l 70J upon land claimed by the 
Holland I .and Company, and were in consequence in continual conflict with 
the company's agents. The latter refused to sell to such persons anything 
from their store, or in any way to countenance them, without a compromise 
with the company. During this uncertainty the better class of settlers were 
deterred from purchasing, and the population in 1810 was onl) eight hundred 
and twenty-seven, and in 1820 was less than two thousand. On the south- 
east ol the Allegheny the Lancaster Land Company had taken up a large tract, 
which had been disposed of by lottery, or in some such other way as to scatter 
the titles anions;' various unknown and distant owners, who came at length 
to abandon their lands as of no value, and they were sold for taxes. This part 
of the county is still comparatively unsettled. By the great speculations of 
[828 to 1S40. the demand for lumber throughout the great West was increased, 
the value of pine lands enhanced, and great activity was infused into the lum- 
ber business along the Conewango and Allegheny. 

'" Warren, the county seat, is situated on a plain of about three hundred 
acres, on the right bank of the Allegheny, just below the mouth of Conewango 
Creek. The town is principally built along the river bank, which is about 
thirty-live feet above the water, and commands a picturesque view above and 
below. A noble bridge here crosses the Allegheny. 

" It is allowed to be one of the most eligible sites on the river. The 
town was laid out and the lots sold by General William Irvine and Andrew 
Elliott, commissioners appointed by the State. The borough was incorporated 
in [832. Near the centre of the plot is the public square or diamond, around 
which are situated the court-house and public offices, of brick; and the jail, 
of stone; a bank, of stone, — a solid structure without, but broken within, — 
and an academy, of brick. The population of the place (seven hundred and 
thirty-seven in 1840") is not yet commensurate with its original plan, and the 
consequence is that the public buildings make rather a lonely appearance, 
separated as they are at some distance from the compact business street along 
the river. There are three churches. — Presbyterian, Methodist, and German 
Methodist. There are also Baptist and German Lutheran congregations, who 
have not yet erected houses of worship. The dwellings and stores are gen- 
erally of frame, neatly built, and painted white. The place is one hundred and 
twenty miles from Pittsburg by land, and twenty-two from Jamestown, on 
the outlet of Chautauqua Lake. 

" Warren, in common with the county, was retarded in its improvement 
by the causes mentioned above, and in 1813 it boasted but live houses. The 
Holland Land Company at an early day erected their store-bouse on the river 

642 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

bank, just above the blacksmith's shop; and Daniel Jackson built another 
house on the corner. Abraham Tanner, Esq., who is still living, came to 
Warren from Trumbull County, Ohio, embarked in the lumber business, and 
pursued it for some years with success. Robert Falconer, Esq., a Scotch 
gentleman of considerable fortune, came to the place a few years after Air. 
Tanner. In 1816 Samuel Dale surveyed the Lancaster lands opposite the 
town, across the river. The lands on the hills north of the river, and west 
of the Conewango, and one mile from each, are called the State's lands ; they 
extend from one to two miles in width, nearly through the county, being 
lands which the Holland Company did not include in their survey. 

" The business of Warren varies with the season of the year. In the 
midst of winter or summer the place is exceedingly dull ; but at the breaking 
up of the ice in the spring, and during the subsequent floods, the town, and 
the whole country above, on the Conewango and Allegheny, is alive with the 
bustle of preparation among the lumbermen. Large rafts are continually 
coming down the Allegheny, and smaller ones down the Conewango, and 
rounding in at Warren to be coupled into rafts of immense area, sixty or 
seventy feet wide, and from two hundred and fifty to three hundred feet long, 
in which shape they pursue their course to Pittsburg and Cincinnati. Large 
boats, too, or ' broad-horns," as they are called, from the width of their oars, 
form part of the fleet. _ 

" These rafts, like immense floating islands, form at once the vehicle and 
the temporary residence of several families on their way down the river. Old 
and young, from the gray-haired pioneer of sixty down to the boy of twelve 
years, are interested in their departure, and compose the crews to navigate 
them. There is not probably a boy of twelve years old living on any stream 
in Warren County who has not made his voyage to Cincinnati, perhaps to 
' Orleans.' 

" It is a cheering sight to see the bright broad raft floating slowly down 
the picturesque passes of the Allegheny, with its little shanties, and busy 
population ; some lifting the long heavy oars, some cooking at the great fire, 
some eating their bacon from a broad clean shingle, — superior to French 
porcelain, — some lounging in the sun, and some practising their coarse wit 
upon the gazers from the shore, and making the wild hills echo with their 
shouts. The unsettled habits induced by these semiannual voyages are far 
from being congenial to the agricultural interests of the county. Among those 
who have become distinguished in the lumber business is Guy C. Irwin, Esq., 
who resides on the Conewango, a short distance below Pine Grove. He is 
a complete Napoleon in the lumber business. His name, person, and char- 
acter, are' known in every large town from Olean to New Orleans. He owns, 
or has owned, more pine lands and saw-mills, and ' run' more lumber, than 
any man on the waters of the Allegheny. While the business was driven to its 
full extent in 1836-38, he frequently sent to market twenty millions of feet 

645 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

oi boards in a season, Ihe shore for a mile or two above Pittsburg is fre- 
quently lined with liis rails waiting a rise of the waters. Mr. [rvin came out 
from the West Branch of the Susquehanna about the year 1S17, with little 
other capital than a strong, comprehensive mind, and an untiring spirit of 
enterprise. 

Hie failure oi the Lumberman's Bank at Warren, three or four years 
since, was fraught with disaster to the middle and poorer classes of citizens 
of Warren County. The histon of this bank, could its material he gathered 
at this day, would he an excellent beacon for similar institutions. By means 
of the great extent of country throughout which the lumber trade was prose- 
cuted, its hills were wideU circulated, as well at home as at Pittsburg, Cin- 
einnati, and farther down. The short and prompt loans originally made. 
became long- ones, and eventuall) permanent : the borrowers were few . and 
heavy dealers and land speculators; the} soon had the hank in their power; 
the securities assumed the form oi pine lauds, and unsalable property, the 
speeie was exhausted, the hank failed, with a circulation in the hands of the 
needy, who sold at a heavy discount to the large borrowers, who thus paid 
their debts at an easy rate. 

In a note, by the editors oi the United States Gasette, referring to the 
ancient village oi Ephrata, situated in Lancaster County, in this State, the 
fact is noted that " one oi the first printing-presses introduced into the State" 
was loeated in that village. As a small item oi histor} connected with our 
profession we have 10 add, that the identical press in question became the 
property of the editor of this paper in the year 1804. He caused the wood- 
work to he renewed, and removed it to Meadville in the fall of that year. Ir 
was the first printing-press introduced into this State northwest of the Alle- 
gheny River, and from which the first sheet issued in this region. All the 
continental mousy issued h\ Congress, while in session at Lancaster and York, 
during the Revolutionary War. was struck upon it. This relic of antiquity is 
now, we believe, the property of Mr. Purviance, of the neighboring county of 
Warren, and from which the Union, a very respectable sheet, is issued. Long 
may it continue to administer to the welfare, prosperity, and happiness of the 
Union.'- -Crazvford Messenger, rSSo. 

' The lion. Joseph Hackney departed this life at Warren on the 20th of 
May, 1832, at the age of sixty-nine years. 

lie was distinguished for stanch integrity, uprightness, and generosit} 
in his intercourse with the world: modest, unobtrusive, amiable, and possess- 
ing reliance, tor at least the last year of his pilgrimage, on the atonement of 
the blessed Redeemer. 

\ development of the murderous outrage upon the happiness of his 
paternal roof In a savage foe would harrow up the feelings of sensibility. He 
was a soldier with Colonel llarmar. at the building of Fort llarmar. at the 
mouth of the Muskingum, in 1785. 

646 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

' In [789 he went with Major (afterwards General) Doughty, up 1 1 1< ■ 
Tennessee River, to conciliate the Indians in that region by a distribution of 
presents from the United States. The party, consisting of fifteen, landed at 
the encampment of the first Indian village. The tawny natives seemed to 
manifest great friendship, but the discerning Major Doughty descried some- 
thing which foreboded treachery. I le put bis men on their guard, and. having 
bestowed the presents designed, the Indians all gave them their hands in token 
of their pretended amicable feelings, but Doughty and his men had scarcely 
wheeled their boat in order to proceed to another village, when the savages 
levelled their muskets and killed eleven at the first fire. Mr. Hackney escaped 
with his life, as did the two officers and one more; but one of his arms was 
broken by a ball, and hung useless at bis side. With the other be managed 
the boat. The enemy pursued, to the number of sixty, yet by the well-directed 
lire of the three uninjured warriors, using the loaded guns of their fallen 
brethren, they killed many of their pursuers, beat off the residue, and defeated 
them ! 

" ' Mr. I lacknev then repaired to a Spanish fort on the Mississippi, where, 
with surgical aid and the blessings of I leaven, bis limb was fully restored. 

"' Me was afterwards with Harmar on his campaign in 1790. During 
this memorable period, be was sent out under Major Willis and Lieutenant 
Ebenezer Frothingham, on what may with propriety be called a forlorn hope, 
as one of a battalion intrusted with a duty, in the region of the Sandusky. The 
Indians killed every member of tin- battalion except eleven, of which Mr. 
1 lacknev was one. 

" ' In 1703 lie settled in Meadville, diligent in bis lawful pursuits, happy 
in bis domestic relations, and beloved by all bis acquaintance. He was colonel 
of the first regiment in Crawford County. 

"' lie removed to the banks of the Konnewonggo, in 1817, and gained 
by bis urbanity, hospitality, and correct conduct the esteem of his fellow-citi- 
zens, and their suffrages for various offices. He was appointed an associate- 
judge, on the organization of Warren County for judicial purposes, and dis 
charged the duties of the office with dignity, establishing his character as an 
upright and useful judge till the close of his life.' — Crawford Messenger. 

" Tine drove is situated on the right bank of the Conewango, seven miles 
above Warren, at the head of the rapids. It is compactly built, containing 
some forty or fifty dwellings, store, taverns, etc. Russel's mills are situated 
here, on one of the best water-privileges in the county. Three saw-mills and 
a grist-mill, besides other works, are in operation here, and nearly a mile 
below is another large saw-mill. Establishments like these, it is said, might be 
erected on each mile between Pine Grove and Warren. 

" Youngsville is situated on both sides of Big Brokenstraw, three miles 
from its mouth. It contains about twenty dwellings and a Methodist church. 
Some of the largest and best-cultivated farms in the county surround this 

647 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

village. Sugar Grove is situated in the township of that name, one and a half 
miles, south of the New York State line. It contains some twenty or thirty 
dwellings, a saw- and grist-mill. It is pleasantly situated, and surrounded 
with groves of sugar-maple, — hence the name. Lottsville is in the same town- 
ship, on the Little Brokenstraw\ Fayette is on a branch of the Big Broken- 
straw, in Columbus Township. At all these places there are good water- 
privileges. At each of these villages there is a post-office, as also at Deerfield, 
Kinjua, Spring Valley, and Irvine. 

"A colony of German Protestants have recently purchased (May, 1843) 
ten thousand acres of land in Limestone Township, which they are about 
settling on the principle of community of property. It is believed, however, 
that they intend to retain the common property organization for only five or 
ten years, or until the land is fully paid for, when they expect to divide the 
shares. A similar colony, of the Catholic denomination, have also purchased a 
tract in the eastern part of the county, near the boundary of McKean County. 

" About six miles below Warren, near the mouth of Brokenstraw Creek, 
the traveller, who has thus far passed the usual plain log or frame cottages 
by the roadside, is struck with the appearance of an elegant mansion of stone, 
of a chaste and neat design, standing a little back from the road, with a fine 
farm around it. A short distance beyond he sees another, after the same 
model, adorning a similar farm ; a little farther on, another still, and near it, 
by the roadside, the ' Cornplanter Hotel,' built of freestone, in a style and of a 
magnitude that would do honor to Chestnut Street, in Philadelphia. Opposite 
the hotel is a row of stores, in the same style of architecture; a neat bridge 
crosses the creek; on one side are the wild rocky hills, and on the other the 
broad alluvial meadows that border the Allegheny. Besides the buildings enu- 
merated above, there is a mill and miller's house ; two other elegant stone cot- 
tages below the creek ; and about a mile below, near the Allegheny, is the man- 
sion of the proprietor. This village, intended eventually to become the town of 
Cornplanter, was erected and is owmed entirely by Dr. William A. Irvine. It 
stands on a large tract of fine land inherited from his father, the late Com- 
missary-General Callender Irvine, who was the son of General William Irvine 
of the Revolutionary army. The village was built in anticipation of the con- 
struction of the Sunbury and Erie Railroad, which was located directly 
through it, and was to pass up the Brokenstraw^ valley. It will be some years 
before this road is constructed. 

" On the flats below the village once stood an Indian village, called Buck- 
aloon, which was destroyed by a detachment under Colonel Broadhead from 
Pittsburg, in 1781. It required a siege of some days to drive out the Indians, 
who retreated to the hills in the rear of the village. Several days afterwards 
Major Morrison (afterwards a distinguished citizen of Lexington, Kentucky) 
returned to reconnoitre, and had stooped to drink at the mouth of the creek, 
when a rifle ball from an Indian splashed the water in his face. This fact 

648 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

was long after confirmed to Dr. Irvine by one of Cornplanter s men. General 
William Irvine was for several years engaged as commissioner for the State 
in superintending the surveys of land northwest of the Allegheny, under the 
land law of 1792; and either he or his son, General Callender Irvine, took up 
large tracts on Brokenstraw Creek. The latter came to this place in 1795, 
erected a cabin, and placed in charge of it, by way of perfecting ' an actual 
settlement," a faithful old negro slave. A very affectionate intimacy subsisted 
between General Irvine and Cornplanter, and reciprocal visits were often 
made by them. One day while General Callender Irvine was staying at the 
cabin, two Monseys, a small clan of whom lived in the vicinity, came to the 
cabin for some salt. Salt in those days was as precious as silver, being packed 
on horses over the mountains. The old negro took out his measure of salt 
to give them a little, but they wanted the whole, and vowed they would have 
it by fair means or foul. General Irvine here interfered and drove them off. 
A few days afterwards one of Cornplanter's men came down to visit and 
hunt, and spent a fortnight with the general. This was no uncommon occur- 
rence at his hospitable cabin, and he thought nothing of it. Months after- 
wards Cornplanter told the general that the Monseys had threatened his (the 
general's) life, and that he had sent the Indian down secretly to watch their 
movements. 

" Kinjua is a small village on the left bank of the Allegheny, at the mouth 
of Kinjua Creek, and twelve miles above Warren. Five miles above Kinjua, 
on the right bank of the Allegheny, and four miles below the State line, is 
the reservation and late residence of Cornplanter, the distinguished Seneca 
chief. The Allegheny reservation of the Seneca nation is above the State 
line, extending for thirty miles along the, river, and one mile in breadth. The 
Senecas were by far the most numerous and warlike of the Six Nations. The 
peculiar organization of that confederacy, and the rank which the Senecas 
held in it, have been mentioned on page 6 of the Outline History. The 
history of their wrongs at the hands of land speculators, and of the gradual 
diminution of their numbers, belongs more properly to the history of New 
York than to that of Pennsylvania. By various treaties they have been de- 
prived of one piece of their fair domain after another, until they were crowded 
upon four small reservations, one at Tonawanta, eight or ten miles north- 
west of Batavia, one three miles east of Buffalo, one at Cattaraugus Creek, 
twenty-eight miles south of Buffalo, and the fourth on the Allegheny, as men- 
tioned above. At each of these reservations, except the Tonawanta, the 
American Board have a mission station, with a church and schools. The 
following is from the Day spring of February, 1842 : 

" ' The whole number of schools on all the reservations is twelve, con- 
taining two hundred and ten pupils. In addition to these are eight Sabbath- 
schools, embracing one hundred and fifty-five pupils. To the four churches 
about fifty members have been added during the year 1842. And there has 

649 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

been a very great advance in the cause of temperance. For three years past 
there has been great excitement and alienation growing out of their political 
difficulties. In 1838 a treaty was obtained from them, in which the Senecas 
sold all their reservations except the last two, and that portion of the Tus- 
carora which the Tuscaroras held by purchase. By the conditions of this 
treaty they were to receive one hundred thousand dollars, also one hundred 
and two thousand dollars for their improvements ; and the United States gov- 
ernment was to furnish four hundred thousand dollars to remove them west of 
the Mississippi and support them one year in the West. It has been estimated 
that the allowance made them for their improvements will not be half adequate 
to enable them to make as good houses and fields on the new lands to which 
they go, as they had on those which they leave, and that by this bargain, should 
it be carried into effect, they would lose more than half their available prop- 
erty, and be for some years to come comparatively poor and destitute. A 
compromise was effected last spring, by which they sell only a part of Tusca- 
rora and the whole Tonawanda and Buffalo reservations, and receive a pro- 
portionable part of the compensation stipulated in the former treaty ; but they 
receive nothing for removal and subsistence. The case at present stands thus. 
The Indians on the ceded part of the Tuscarora reservation must remove to 
that part which is not sold. Here they will have land enough for their present 
wants. The Indians on the Tonawanda and Buffalo reservations must all 
remove. Cattaraugus and Allegheny remain for the present undisturbed. The 
Indians from Tonawanda and Buffalo intend, most of them, to settle at Cat- 
taraugus. Some say they will go west of the Mississippi, some to Canada, 
and a few will probably go to Allegheny. Two years are allowed by the treaty 
for removing, nearly eighteen months of which still remain. The present 
number of Indians on these reservations is about three thousand.' — Day's 
Collections. 

" The year 1800 was made memorable in the history of Pennsylvania by 
the erection of several new counties in the northwestern quarter of the State, 
from territory which had been temporarily attached to organized counties 
whose seats of justice were hundreds of miles distant. Thus, by an act of the 
State Legislature passed March 12, of that year, the counties of Beaver, 
Butler, Mercer, Crawford, Erie, Warren, Venango, and Armstrong were 
formed from territory previously embraced by Westmoreland, Washington, 
Allegheny, and Lycoming Counties. Warren was formed from Allegheny 
and Lycoming Counties, and the clause of the act relating to its boundaries 
reads as follows : 

" ' That so much of the counties of Allegheny and Lycoming, as shall be 
included within the following boundaries, — viz., Beginning at the southeast 
corner of Crawford County, in the north line of the sixth donation district ; 
thence the course of the said line eastwardly across the Allegheny River, until 
it shall intersect the line dividing Johnson's and Potter's districts, in the 

6 so 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

county of Lycoming; thence northerly along the said line to the line of the 
State of New York ; thence westwardly along the line of the said State to the 
corner of Erie County ; thence southerly by the eastern boundaries of the 
counties of Erie and Crawford, to the place of beginning." 

" The same act further provided that the place for holding courts of 
justice within the county should be the town of Warren. Also, that the 
governor be empowered to appoint three commissioners to run, ascertain, 
and mark the boundary lines of the county ; that the commissioners be paid 
the sum of two dollars per day while so engaged, and that the boundaries 
described be run ' on or before the 15th day of June next.' William Miles, 
Thomas Miles, and John Andrews, the latter being then a resident of the 
county, were appointed, but what their duties were, or what they did, if any- 
thing, does not appear. 

" It was further provided by this act that the counties of Crawford, 
Mercer, Venango, Warren, and Erie ('until an enumeration of the taxable 
inhabitants within the aforesaid counties respectively shall be made, and it 
shall be otherwise directed by law") should form one county under the name of 
Crawford County. Meadville thus became the seat of justice for a vast, 
sparsely settled region, and people of to-day can hardly realize the vicissitudes 
experienced by the pioneers who, when obliged to visit the county seat to 
transact legal or other business, or were summoned to attend courts, etc., 
were compelled, in going and returning, to travel from seventy-five to one 
hundred and fifty miles through dense forests, and along winding, partly 
overgrown Indian trails, providing the ' trails' led in the right direction ; other- 
wise the undertaking was still more hazardous. 

" Only a few weeks had passed after the passage of the above-mentioned 
act ere the county of Crawford was duly organized as a separate division of 
the State, and its first officers installed in office. The first session of court 
was held in the upper story of William Dick's residence, on the northeast 
corner of Water Street and Cherry Alley, in Meadville. The record of this 
session begins as follows : ' At a Court of Common Pleas held and kept at 
Meadville, for the county of Crawford, the seventh day of July, Anno Domini, 
One Thousand Eight Hundred, before David Mead and John Kelso, judges, 
present, and from thence continued by adjournment until the ninth day of the 
same month inclusive.' Mead and Kelso were only associate judges, and not 
learned in law. Their attention at this time was chiefly directed to the admis- 
sion of attorneys, to the erection of townships, the issuing of licenses, and the 
appointing of certain township officers. 

" During the second session of the court of Crawford County', held at the 
place above described in October, 1800, Hon. Alexander Addison presiding, 
the first grand jury met. It was during this term, also, that the township of 
Brokenstraw (the original township of Warren) was erected. The order of 
court respecting this subdivision reads as follows : ' In pursuance to sundry 

631 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

petitions presented, the court directed the following townships to be laid off. 
. . . Also all that part of Warren County situate west of River Allegheny 
and Conewago Creek be erected into a township and the name thereof to be 
Brokenstraw.' (See Docket No. i, page n, Judicial Records of Crawford 
County.) Judge Addison resided at Pittsburg, and was a gentleman pos- 
sessed of a fine mind and great attainments, but he was subsequently im- 
peached and removed from office, because of his absolute refusal to allow an 
associate judge to charge a jury after his own charge had been delivered. 

" On the 21st of February, 1801, another act was passed relating to the 
new county of Warren, by the provisions of which it was denominated the 
First Election District of Crawford County, and the electors residing therein 
were directed to hold their general elections at the house of Robert Andrews, 
who then lived in the Brokenstraw valley, or where Pittsfield now stands. 



Pioneer court-house 



" This arrangement continued until April 1, 1805, when an act was passed 
providing for the organization of Venango County from and after September 
1 of that year. By the same legislative act Warren County was detached from 
Crawford and annexed to Venango, for judicial and all other purposes of 
government ; thus becoming part of the Sixth Judicial District, of which the 
Hon. Jesse Moore was then serving as president judge." 

The pioneer court in Warren was held Monday, November 29, 1819, 
Sheriff Bowman, Pfothonotary Alexander McCalmont, and Court Crier Mor- 
rison were there from Venango County to help organize the court. The 
president judge was Jesse Moore, of Meadville, assisted by Associate Judges 
Hackney and Connelly. The pioneer local lawyer was Abner Hazeltine. 

652 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" In December, 1806, Daniel Jackson, of the town of Warren, and Giles 
White, of Brokenstraw Township, were recommended to the governor by 
the court as suitable persons to keep houses of public entertainment. One 
year later Salmon Fuller, a millwright, was licensed to keep a public house in 
Conewango Township. These were the first persons licensed to ' keep tavern' 
in Warren County of whom we have authentic knowledge. 

" In the summer of 1816 Rev. Timothy Alden, before mentioned as the 
founder of the Allegheny College, set out on a brief missionary tour among 
the Indians residing on the upper waters of the Allegheny, and spent some 
days at the village of the venerable chieftain, Cornplanter. Upon his return 
to Meadville he wrote a letter to the Rev. Joseph McKean, of Harvard Uni- 
versity, giving an account of his labors, etc., wherein he says, ' Cornplanter, 
as soon as apprised of our arrival, came over to see us, and immediately took 
charge of our horses. Though the chief Sachem of his tribe, and having many 
around to obey his commands, yet, in the ancient patriarchal style, he chose 
to serve himself, and actually went into the field, cut the oats, and faithfully 
fed our beasts from time to time, while we continued in the place, in ipsa 
persona propria. . . . 

" ' Cornplanter has been the greatest warrior the Senecas have ever had ; 
yet he has always been remarkable for his humane treatment of the women 
and children of his enemies, who at any time have fallen into his hands. He 
is a man of strong mind and masterly eloquence. At the treaty of Fort 
Stanwix he greatly distinguished himself by his talents and address, insomuch 
that by general suffrage he has ever held the first place of power among the 
chiefs of his nation. 

"'He appears to be about sixty-eight years of age.' (Mr. Alden was 
mistaken as to Cornplanter's age. He was born about 1732, and in 1816 was 
eighty- four years old.) 'His countenance is strongly marked with the lines 
of intelligence and reflection. Contrary to the aboriginal custom, his chin is 
covered with a beard three or four inches in length, and upon his head are 
many of the blossoms of age. His house is of princely dimensions compared 
with the generality of Indian huts, and has a piazza in front. He is the owner 
of about fifteen hundred acres of excellent land, six hundred of which encircle 
the ground plot of his little town. From the United States he receives, annu- 
ally, according to stipulation, two hundred and fifty dollars, besides his pro- 
portion of nine thousand dollars equally divided, one-half in goods and one- 
half in money, among those of every age and condition in the tribe.' ' : 
We again quote from Warren County History of 1887: 
" For five years the inhabitants of Warren County had plodded their 
weary way from their log cabins in the wilderness, over the hills to Meadville, 
when it was necessary to transact public or legal business, and for fourteen 
years more had they made toilsome journeys to Franklin, a distance of sixty- 
five miles from the then hamlet of Warren, when business of the same nature 

653 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

imposed its duties upon them. This condition of affairs at last became too 
onerous and irksome to be longer borne without an effort being made to effect 
a change. Hence in the winter of 1818-19 Colonel Joseph Hackney, of the 
town of Warren, then representing Venango County in the State Legislature, 
introduced a bill providing for the separate and independent organization of 
the county of Warren. His efforts were crowned with almost immediate 
success, and on the 16th clay of March, 1819, an act containing the legislation 
desired was passed. 

" This act provided that Warren should be organized as a separate county 
from and after October 1, 1819, and be attached to the Sixth Judicial District. 
Also, that the legal electors should choose county officers at an election to be 
held on the second Tuesday of October of that year, whose duties were to be 
considered as commenced from the first day of October, 1819. We have no 
evidence, however, that such an election was held, and from the fact that 
Lansing Wetmore's commissions as prothonotary, clerk of courts, register 
and recorder, etc., were signed by the governor, September 25, 1819, it is 
believed that all the chief officers of the county at the beginning were ap- 
pointed by the same authority. 

" The Hon. Jesse Moore was the first judge in the order of time, from 
1819 to 1824. He was a gentleman of the old school, dignified but courteous, 
learned but not brilliant, characterized by stern integrity and freedom from 
all prejudice. He was a short, thick-set man, and some still remember his 
benignant countenance, partially bald head, well-powdered hair, and broad- 
brimmed, drab-colored hat. He died suddenly, when still in the prime of 
life and maturity of intellect, honored and lamented by all. 

" Henry Shippen succeeded him from 1825 to- 1835. His characteristics 
were common sense and sound judgment. Many here will remember his 
inflexible honesty, his fidelity to truth, and his contempt for trickery and 
fraud. A single instance will suffice to illustrate : In 1834 a notorious person- 
age of a neighboring county, by fraud and false interpretation, had procured 
a judgment note from the venerable old Cornplanter for three thousand dol- 
lars, entered judgment, and issued execution on it. Application was made 
by counsel, in behalf of the old chief, to open the judgment and let him into a 
defence. As the evidence of the villany was disclosed, the judge became very 
nervous. Anger flashed from his eye, and before the counsel got through 
his evidence the judge told him to stop, and, leaning over the bench, in a voice 
hoarse with indignation, said, 'Mr. Clerk, set aside that writ and strike that 
judgment from the records of this court!' 

" Next came, in 1835, Judge Nathaniel B. Eldred, the accomplished gen- 
tleman, brimful of honor, honesty, and sympathy. His quick perception, sound 
judgment, and stern impartiality guided him to the justice of a case, without 
the aid of much legal learning, so that his decisions were seldom appealed 
from and were seldom reversed. With but a year of interruption he remained 

654 



,*^a* 





X. B. Eldreil 



L. D. Welniort 




S. P. Johnson 





IS 1 




W. D. Brown 



Warren pioneer judges 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

with us until 1843, when he was removed by appointment to the Harrisburg 
district. His social qualities and public spirit, as well as official conduct, had 
greatly endeared him to the hearts of the people of this and other counties, 
who parted with him with much reluctance and regret. 

" In 1839, after the death of Judge Shippen, Judge Eldred was appointed 
his successor in the sixth district, out of which this county had been taken 
in 1835 to form part of the eighteenth, and without our solicitation or knowl- 
edge Alexander McCalmont was appointed to fill his place in the eighteenth 
district, including Warren County. His administration was so short and un- 
satisfactory that I will be excused for passing it over in silence. The next 
year, bv legslative act. this countv was restored to the sixth district, and thus 




Methodist church, 1S35 

again came under the jurisdiction of Judge Eldred. He was the only judge 
of the first seven that ever resided in Warren." 

The pioneer Methodist minister to visit Warren was Rev. R. R. Roberts, 
in 1806. The pioneer Presbyterian minister to visit Warren was in 1822. 
The pioneer school-teacher was in 1804, — a Mistress Cheeks; she had a Dil- 
worth Speller and a copy of the New Testament. The pioneer frame school- 
house was erected in 1820 on the public grounds. The pioneer jail was made 
of stone in 1829. The pioneer court-house was of brick, in 1827 ; all courts 
held previous to that were convened in a house that stood where the Carver 
Hotel now stands. A steamboat was built in 1830 to run from Warren to 
42 657 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Olean; she was called the "Allegheny," and made but one trip. Warren 
Borough has an existence since April 18, 1795. The town of Warren, as 
originally laid out, consisted of five hundred and twenty-five lots, each fifty- 
eight by two hundred and thirty-three feet. An order for the sale of the lots 
in Warren, Erie, Waterford, and Franklin was issued by Governor Mifflin on 
the 7th day of May, 1796. All this territory was then Allegheny County. 
These lots were directed to be sold at Philadelphia, Carlisle, and the borough 
of Pittsburg. The pioneer permanent building was erected in 1796, and 
belonged to the Holland Land Company. Warren contained but few white 
people then, but many Indians. In 1813 the town had but five houses. In 
1832 Warren was made a borough, with a population of three hundred and 
eighty-five. In 1840 it had a population of seven hundred and thirty-seven. 
The pioneer saw-mill on the upper waters of the Allegheny was erected about 
1799. A grist-mill was built at Ceres in 1801. The pioneer raft to float 
down the Allegheny, from near Warren, was in 1801. In that year there 
were two saw-mills in the county, — one on the Brokenstraw, and one on 
Jackson Run. A small raft from each of these mills was run down in 1801. 

The pioneer four-horse stage-coach arrived from Dunkirk to Warren 
May 24, 1826. In 1840 you could go by stage from Buffalo to Pittsburg in less 
than three days. In 1848, by a line established by Richard T. Orr and others, 
a traveller could go from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, to Buffalo, New York, in 
less than three days. The distance from Pittsburg by way of Erie to Buffalo 
was two hundred and twenty-four miles. 

TAXABLE INHABITANTS IN NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

1835 1842 1849 

Butler 4,322 5,535 7,490 

Crawford 5,164 7,516 8,130 

Clarion not erected 3,311 5,087 

Elk not erected 877 

Jefferson 902 1,788 2,622 

Lawrence not erected .... 4.425 

McKean 1,089 1,213 

Mercer 5,196 7,356 6,923 

Potter 556 681 1,346 

Tioga ; 2,485 4,091 5,237 

Venango 3,014 3,127 4,027 

Warren 1,600 3,593 3,149 

23,239 38,087 50.526 



658 



CHAPTER XXXIX 



ALLEGHENY CITY BEAVEK CITY DUBOIS CITY' — TOWANDA CITY 



ALLEGHENY CITY, IN THE PURCHASE OF I784 

Allegheny City is situated on the right bank of the Allegheny River, 
near the junction with the Monongahela, opposite Pittsburg, with which it 
is connected by three bridges. It was incorporated in 1828. This city pre- 
sents many fine residences, in commanding situations, occupied by many 
persons doing business in Pittsburg, who are pleased to retire from the bus- 
tle, smoke, and coal-dust of the principal city. Its commercial and manufac- 
turing business, properly its own, is considerable. 

The pioneer mayor was Robert Simpson Cassatt, father of the president 
of the Pennsylvania Railroad. 

Day, in 1843, says, — 

" Passing over to Allegheny City, there may be seen the Western Theo- 
logical Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, founded by the General Assem- 
bly in 1825, and located in Allegheny town in 1827. The edifice was com- 
pleted in 1831. It stands on a lofty, insulated ridge, about one hundred feet 
higher than the Allegheny River. It is, indeed, quite a task to ascend this 
hill of science and religion, but one is amply repaid by the pure air and mag- 
nificent prospect. It contains a library of about six thousand volumes, and 
has connected with it a workshop for manual labor. Rev. Francis Herron, 
D.D., is president of the board of directors; Rev. David Elliott, Rev. L. W. 
Green, Rev. Robert Dunlap, professors. 

" The Theological Seminary of the Associate Reformed Church, located 
in Allegheny City, was established in 1826. It is under the charge of Rev. 
John T. Pressly, D.D., possesses a valuable library, and numbers about thirty 
students. 

" The Allegheny Theological Institute was organized by the general 
synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in 1840; Rev. James R. Wilson, 
D.D., senior professor; Rev. Thomas Sproull, junior professor. The sem- 
inary possesses a valuable library. Measures are in progress to erect a large 
edifice in Allegheny City. 

" The Western Penitentiary is an immense castle, built in the ancient 
Norman style, situated on the plain behind Seminary Hill, and on the west- 
ern border of Allegheny City. It was completed in 1827, at a cost of $183,- 
092, including its equipments. Notwithstanding some glaring defects in 

6S9 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

its original construction and arrangement, it has now become an efficient 
institution. It is conducted on the ' Pennsylvania system' of solitary con- 
finement and labor. Weaving, shoe-making, and oakum-picking are the em- 
ployments of the prisoners. About eight hundred prisoners had been re- 
ceived, in 1842, since the commencement of the institution." 

The population in 1830 was 2801 ; in 1840, 10,089. It nas fifty-eight 
stores, with a capital of eighty-three thousand four hundred dollars ; nine 
lumber-yards, with a capital of fifty thousand dollars; one furnace, and one 
forge; value of hardware and cutlery manufactured, fifty thousand dollars; 
three cotton factories, with fourteen thousand two hundred and seventy spin- 
dles ; two tanneries ; one brewery ; one rope walk, — total capital in manu- 
factures, $726,640, and several churches. 

A PIONEER HISTORY OF DU BOIS CITY 
(Written for the Courier by the well-known historian, Dr. W. J. McKnight.) 

George Shaffer and wife, with their six children, Frederick, Michael, 
George, Jr., and three daughters, migrated from Dauphin County, Pennsylva- 
nia, in 1812 to where Du Bois City now stands. On May 13, 1812, a part of the 
family arrived and erected a " bark shanty" near where the old Heberling 
farm and " Inn House" stood, and " beside the spring which bubbles and 
sparkles to-day as it did then." On the night of the 14th Frederick and 
Michael Shaffer slept in this shanty, which they erected in what is now the 
First Ward of the city, the other members of the family stopping with Jacob 
Ogden, a pioneer who lived at what is now Carlisle Station on the Buffalo, 
Rochester and Pittsburg Railway, south of Du Bois. The Shaffers cleared 
two acres of land on the ridge or hill-side in that year. Charles C. Gaskell 
was agent, for the land, and George Shaffer, Jr., afterwards bought the land 
from him. 

In 1815 and for many years after Clearfield was known as " Old Town;" 
the county was not organized until 1822 and this township was not formed 
until 1826 and was named after the celebrated Captain Sam Brady, the great 
Indian fighter. The Shaffer property passed from their hands in 1853 to 
Jacob Heberling, who sold to his son David, who owned and occupied the 
land until 1865, when he sold the two hundred and fifty acres of it to John 
Rumbarger. David Heberling was a prosperous farmer and kept a house of 
entertainment. John Rumbarger was a jobber for Bell and Rogers, and upon 
his purchase moved in 1865 into the Heberling house, where he farmed, 
jobbed and " entertained strangers." His house was always open to Methodist 
preachers and for the holding of religious service. From a personal knowl- 
edge of Rumbargerl can say that he was truly an " honest man." His first 
attempt to change his general surroundings into a town was in the spring of 
1872. P. S. Weber, of Du Bois City, bought the first two lots sold in the 
coming city; the deeds bear the date of July 10, 1872. The conditions of 

660 




Alexander Johnston Cassalt, now President of the Pennsylvania Railroad System, born 
in Allegheny City, in 1S39 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

that time will be best shown by the following advertisement Rumbarger had 
inserted in the Clearfield Journal and the Brookville Republican. Who wrote 
this advertisement for him I do not know : 



ONE HUNDRED LOTS FOR SALE IN THE TOWN OF RUMBARGER, IN BRADY TOWN- 
SHIP, CLEARFIELD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA 

" The subscriber has laid off one hundred lots, which he offers for sale 
at reasonable rates to all those who feel disposed to move in that direction. 
The town is beautifully situated on Sandy Creek within eighty rods of the 
Allegheny Valley Railroad now under completion. It is also situated on the 
public road leading from Luthersburg to Brockwayville. In this town liberal 
inducements are offered to mechanics and enterprising business men, being 
in a thickly settled farming community. Those in want of lots should buy 
early, as they are being disposed of very rapidly. He also offers for sale a 
lot of ten acres adjoining the town with a stream of water running through 
it, sufficient to run a machine shop, carding-mill, etc., and excellent situation 
for a tannery. He will sell his Tavern House and about one acre of land in 
said town, well situated for a hotel, being large and commodious, and having 
the necessary out-buildings and stabling attached. 

" There is a large steam saw-mill and general lumbering establishment 
now under construction by John Du Bois, adjoining the town, that will give 
employment to not less than one hundred hands. 

" There are several springs of good water in the town, and those wish- 
ing to sink wells can obtain water in from ten to fifteen feet. 

" The town is in a healthy part of the county and easy of access from 
Luthersburg, Salem, West Liberty, Reynoldsville, Rockdale, and the Beech- 
woods Settlement. 

" Come and see the place before purchasing elsewhere. 

" John Rumbarger, Proprietor. 

"July 17, 1872, 3 months." — Brookville Republican. 

In the last of February or the first of March, 1873, Mr. Rumbarger came 
to my office in Brookville, Pennsylvania, and told me that he thought the 
time had arrived to more thoroughly advertise his proposed town, " and as 
you are a good writer I would like you to write one for me." As he and I 
were close personal friends I wrote the following, which he inserted in the 
Brookville Republican: 

" ONE HUNDRED TOWN LOTS FOR SALE IN THE TOWN OF RUMBARGER, CLEAR- 
FIELD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA 

" To those unacquainted with Rumbarger we would say that it is a 
beautiful site for a town. Not too level or too hilly, but just right for proper 

663 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

drainage, and that it is situated in a healthy locality. The soil is rich and 
the country is fruitful, located on the banks of the Sandy Lick Creek. A 
public road from Luthersburg to Brockwayville passes through it. 

" The great ' Low Grade,' or Bennett's Branch Extension of the Alle- 
gheny Valley Railroad, skirts the entire length of the town, and we have 
assurances that first class depot buildings will be constructed this summer 
for the accommodation of the citizens. Further, it is confidently asserted that 
the Falls Creek Railroad will be commenced, and probably completed this 
summer. In any event, whenever completed, this road will cross the ' Great 
Low Grade' at and pass through Rumbarger. This, it will be observed, gives 
the town the advantage of two great lines of railroad, a northern outlet as 
well as the main line. 

" Rumbarger, being located in a rich mineral country, and surrounded 
by vast forests of the choicest pine and other timbers, and supplied with 
such railroad facilities, must of necessity become a great commercial centre 
and shipping point. The country around it is good for agricultural purposes, 
much better than is generally found in this western part of the State. 

"Among the improvements now under construction are two saw-mills, 
one of which will be the largest in the State. These mills will contain all 
the modern improvements, such as lath, sash and door, and planing mills, 
and other improvements. It is enough to say that these mills are owned and 
will be conducted by John Du Bois, Esq., of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, who 
is also erecting about thirty dwelling-houses to accommodate his workmen. 
Other mills and buildings are now under construction, and from the way lots 
are selling and present appearances a great man)' dwellings and business 
houses will be commenced as soon as the spring will permit. 

" The lots we offer are 60 feet front and 180 feet deep. Good water can 
be had from springs or by digging wells. Favorable time and reasonable 
terms will be given purchasers of lots. Strangers visiting the town will find 
good hotel accommodations and persons to show them the town and sur- 
roundings. 

" The cars will be running as far as Rumbarger on the Bennett's Branch 
Railroad by July or August next. 

I also offer for sale one hundred and fifty acres of land adjoining the 
town, fifty acres improved and the remainder well covered with pine, hem- 
lock, and oak timber. This land is like all the surrounding lands, valuable 
for its minerals, containing coal in large quantities, the veins being from seven 
to ten feet thick. 

" For particular information address John Rumbarger, Jefferson Line, 
Clearfield County, Pennsylvania. 
" March 12, 1873." 



664 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

After I read to him the above advertisement, he was highly pleased, 
took out his pocket-book, and proposed to pa)' for my labor. I said, " Oh, 
no," and remained firm. He then insisted that I come up, make him a visit, 
and pick out a lot which he would donate to me. To this generous offer I 
replied, " My dear friend, what do I want with a town lot up there in the 
woods ?" Mr. Rumbarger lived long enough to walk with me in Du Bois 
City and ask me this pertinent question : " Doctor, which one of these lots 
would you have picked for yourself had you made me that visit as I re- 
quested?" 

Du Bois City lies within the 1784 purchase. 

Pioneer post-office, Rumbarger, 1874; George L. Glasgow, postmaster. 
Post-office name changed to Du Bois in 1876. Pioneer merchants in the 
town, J. B. Ellis, Thomas Montgomery, C. D. Evans & Bro., in 1873. Pioneer 
doctor, W. J. Smathers, 1873. Pioneer hotel-keeper, William Corley, 1874. 
The town was incorporated as a borough and named Du Bois, after the post- 
office, at January Court, 1881. Lewis A. Brady was elected first burgess. 

Beaver City, in Beaver County, also lies within the 1784 purchase. Of 
this city, Day, in his " Collections of 1843," says, — 

" BEAVER 

" The place known by this name to travellers and others at Pittsburg, 
whence so manv little steamers are seen plying for this destination, is not, 




Beaver in 1843 

properly, one town, but a little cluster of towns — a sort of United States in 
miniature, situated around the mouth of Beaver River, and for four or five 
miles up that stream. And it is a singular fact, that to a traveller passing 
on the Ohio scarcely any village at all can be descried at the place, although 
there is here a population of some six thousand. 

66s 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" Beaver borough, the seat of justice, is a quiet, orderly, old-fashioned 
county town, with its respectable society and the usual number of stores and 
taverns. It is built principally upon a long street running parallel with the 
Ohio River, upon an elevated plateau, some forty rods back from the river. 
A dangerous gravel shoal, formed by the confluence of the Beaver with the 
Ohio, lies directly abreast of the town, which accounts for the fact of there 
being no business street along the river. The court-house, jail, and three 
churches, all substantial buildings, stand around an open square, through 
which runs the main street. Population in 1840, 551. The borough was 
incorporated March 29, 1802. 

" The annexed view [page 665] shows the court-house, jail, etc., on the 
left, and the churches on the right, with the main street beyond. 

" ' By the act of 28th September, 1791, the governor of the State was 
instructed to cause to be surveyed two hundred acres of land in town lots, 
near the mouth of Beaver Creek, " on or near the ground where the old 
French town stood," and also one thousand acres adjoining, on the upper side 
thereof, as nearly square as might be, in out-lots, not less than five, nor more 
than ten acres each. By the same act, five hundred acres, near the town, 
were granted for an academy. Daniel Leet surveyed the town plot. The 
probable motive at that day for locating the county seat at a distance from the 
great manufacturing advantages at the Falls, was the existence of the well- 
known shoal just below the mouth of Beaver, a difficult and dangerous pas- 
sage to the keel-boats and other craft in use at that day. By the location 
here, the town was accessible alike to the lower and upper trade, and the 
obstructions themselves would probably throw considerable business into the 
place. The idea of erecting Lowells and Rochesters had not as yet entered 
the heads of speculators in land. Samuel Johnston first settled at Beaver in 
1796. He kept an inn on the bank of the river, near Fort Mcintosh. Some 
traces of the old fort are still to be seen near his house. Jonathan Porter, 
Abraham Laycock, David Townsend, Joseph Hemphill, John Lawrence, Mr. 
Small, Mr. Alison, were also early and prominent settlers. Judge Laycock 
filled many important offices in the county and State, and held a seat in the 
Senate of the United States. On the present site of New Brighton, there 
existed an ancient " blockhouse," at which Sergeant-Major Toomey com- 
manded when Mr. Alison first came here, on a visit, in 1793. General Wayne 
was encamped at Legionville, on the river, below Economy. The only road 
in those days was " Broadhead's," which led across the country from where 
Phillipsburg now is.' " 

jCITY OF TOWANDA, IN 1 784 PURCHASE 

" Towanda, the county seat of Bradford County, is situated near the 
centre of the county, on the right bank of the Susquehanna. A part of the 
village is on the river bank, and a part on several successive benches gently 

666 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

rising from the river, and presenting a most enchanting prospect. The 
dwellings are built with taste, generally of wood, painted white, imparting a 
remarkably bright and cheerful appearance to the town as one approaches it 
from the Wysox valley, just opposite. Besides the usual county buildings, 
the town contains Presbyterian, Methodist, and Episcopal churches, an acad- 
emy, and a bank, very extensively known. A noble bridge crosses the river 
at the town. Just below the bridge is the dam and lock of the North Branch 
Canal, which here crosses the river by a pool, thus forming a convenient 
basin opposite the town. Part of the dam was swept away in the flood of 
1841 or 1842. In former times the people of Towanda numbered fresh shad 
among their luxuries, but the construction of the dams in the river has 
excluded them entirely. Population, 912. 

" Towanda was first laid out in 1812, by Mr. William Means, who re- 




Southeast view of Towanda in 1843, from the hill near the Wysox road. In the foreground is the bed of the 
North Branch Canal, laid bare (in 1841) by the destruction of the dam below. Over the centre of the bridge is 
the Presbyterian Church ; on the hill is the Academy, and on the right the Methodist and the Episcopal 
churches 



sided here at that time. The act organizing the county directed the courts 
to be held at his house until public buildings were erected. Old Mr. Fauks, 
a German, and his son-in-law, Mr. Bowman, lived then on the point below 
Towanda. Mr. Fauks had settled there before, or during the Revolution, 
having been attached to the British side in that contest. The village for 
several years was called Meansville, and so marked upon the maps. Other 
names were also occasionally tried on, but did not fit well enough to wear 
long. The Bradford Gazette of March 4, 181 5, says, ' The name of this vil- 
lage having become the source of considerable animosity, the editor (Burr 
Ridgway), willing to accommodate all, announces a new name, — Williams- 
ton; may it give satisfaction and become permanent.' But subsequently, in 

667 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

that same year, the Gazette appears dated Towanda ; and in 1822, again the 
Bradford Settler was dated at Meansville. Towanda was incorporated as a 
borough in 1828, and its name was thus permanently fixed. The location of 
the canal, the discovery of coal-beds in the vicinity, and the establishment of 
a most accommodating bank gave a great impetus to the growth of the place 
between the years 1836 and 1840; but the subsequent disastrous failure of 
the bank, in the spring of 1842, following, as it did, the already severe com- 
mercial distress, and the suspension of the public works, spread a gloom over 
its prospects. The natural advantages of the place, however, are too great to 
be annulled by any temporary cause, and Towanda must soon shake off the 
load, and eventually become a place of considerable business. Besides the 
great valley of the Susquehanna, three smaller valleys, rich in the products 
of agriculture, centre here, and must pour their trade into the stores of 
Towanda." — Day's Collections, 1843. 




cvpgy* evrav* e^/ravd e^ray* evray» *«y» «vray* e^jvd «^v-» 
eOs e.'O^s ?»? eCita e%&-9 eCite eCita ?Os ?«M 




APPENDIX 


SOME LOCAL HISTORY A LINCOLN STORY THE 

OF 1864 


MEMORABLE CAMPAIGN 



In the spring of 1864 we had thirty thousand human, living skeletons 
in rebel prisons. The war had been carried on for three years. The follow- 
ing great and sanguinary battles had been fought, — viz. : Bull Run, Seven 
Pines, Fort Donelson, Fort Pillow, Shiloh, Seven Days' battle in Virginia, 
second battle of Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Stone River, Chan- 
cellorsville, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, Cold Harbor, Spottsylvania, and the 
Wilderness. These battles, or most of them, had been the bloodiest that mod- 
ern history had recorded. In our sorrow and despair, the most bitter antago- 
nisms existed at home between the war and anti-war people. A new President 
was to be elected that year, and in order to save the country and to punish 
rebellion, nearly all patriots — this included war Democrats — believed that 
the re-election of Lincoln was absolutely necessary. Actuated by these 
impulses, Judge Joseph Henderson, of Brookville, was chosen our Congres- 
sional delegate to the national convention, which was to meet on the 7th of 
June, 1864, in Baltimore, Maryland. Judge Henderson, Major Andrews, and 
myself were warm friends. The judge was a great friend of Lincoln and 
Johnson. On the 5th of June I accompanied the judge to Baltimore. Our 
State delegation consisted of fifty-two men, — forty-eight district delegates and 
four at large, — viz., Simon Cameron, W. W. Ketcham, Morrow B. Lowry, and 
A. K. McClure. Simon Cameron was made chairman of the delegation. 
The following States were represented in that body : Maine, Vermont, New 
Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jer- 
sey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Louisiana, Arkansas. Tennessee, 
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, California, 
Oregon, West Virginia, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Nevada, and Mis- 
souri. There was a dispute as to the right of Tennessee to representation, 
but the convention voted them in. In this the judge voted aye, and on the 
first ballot Lincoln received every vote except Missouri, which cast a solid 
vote for General Grant. For Vice-President, Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, 
was nominated on first ballot over Hamlin, of Maine, Dickinson, of New 
York, and Rosseau, of Kentucky. It was thought by the convention expe- 
dient to strengthen the ticket by nominating a man for this office who was 

669 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

known to be a war Democrat and from the South, and as this was a conven- 
tion of freemen, wise leaders, and not of bosses, the people and wisdom 
ruled. 

From Baltimore I went to Washington on business to see Stanton. I 
found him haughty and austere. I therefore sought and received an audience 
at the White House. I had heard Lincoln denounced verbally and in the 
newspapers as " Lincoln, the gorilla," " Lincoln, the ape," " Lincoln, the 
baboon," etc., and, true enough, I found him to be a very homely man, tall, 
gaunt, and long-limbed, but courteous, sympathetic, and easily approached. 
My business with him was this: In 1863 a boy fourteen years two months 
and fifteen days old, from Jefferson County, whose father had been killed in 
battle, was recruited and sold for bounty into the Fourteenth United States 
Regulars at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. After a few months' service, this boy, 
tired of military life, was told by his soldier companions that he could not be 
held in the service, and, instead of demanding his discharge in a proper way, 
unceremoniously left and deserted, for which he was afterwards arrested, 
court-martialled, and sentenced to be shot. As early as April 28, and after 
that, legal efforts were put forth, and military influence used by myself and 
others to save this boy, but without avail. 

" Adjutant-General's Office, 
" Washington, D. C., April 28, 1864. 

" Sir, — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communi- 
cation of the 9th ultimo, requesting the discharge of from the 

military service of the United States, of the Fourteenth United States In- 
fantry, on the ground of minority, and to inform you in reply that he is now 
under arrest for trial by court-martial for desertion, and no action can be 
taken for his discharge, or that will prevent his punishment if found guilty. 
" I am, sir, very respectfully, 

" Your obedient servant, 

" Thomas M. Vincent, 
" Assistant Adjutant-General. 
" W. J. McKnight, Brookville, Pa." 

My business was to save the boy's life, and while everything else had been 
done by legal talent and military influence, I went to Lincoln with a sad heart. 
He was at that time perhaps the busiest man in the world. He listened 
patiently to my story, and then said, " Is all this true, Dr. McKnight, that 
you have told me ? Will no one here listen to you ?" I replied, " Yes, Mr. 
President, it is all, true." He arose, reached for his hat, and remarked to me, 
" I'll be a friend to that fatherless boy." He put his arm in mine and took 
me to Stanton's office, and, after a few minutes' talk with the Secretary, he 
turned to me and said, " You can go home, doctor, and if that boy has not 

670 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

been shot, you can rest assured he will be discharged." In due time, after 
my return home, I received by mail the following: 

" Adjutant-General's Office, 
" Washington, D. C, July 13, 1864. 
" Sir, — I have the honor to inform you that, by direction of the Presi- 
dent, , alias John Scott, Fourteenth United States Infantry, was 

discharged the military service of the United States, by special orders No. 
204, Par. 25, current series, from this office. 

" I am, sir, very respectfully, 

" Your obedient servant, 

" Samuel Breck, 
" Assistant Adjutant-General. 
" Mr. W. J. McKnight, Brookville, Pa." 

Washington at this time was the greatest panorama of war in modem 
times. It took me days to secure an audience with Mr. Lincoln. I was then, 
and am yet, perhaps too ultra and bitter a Republican, but after this humane 
act of President Lincoln I was as bitter a partisan as ever, and, in addition 
to that, a personal admirer of Lincoln from the crown of my head to the end 
of my toes. 

The call for our county convention that year was issued July 13, 1864, 
as follows, — viz. : 

" DELEGATE ELECTION 

" The Republicans of Jefferson County will meet in their respective 
townships and boroughs on Tuesday, the 2d of August, between the hours 
of two and six o'clock p.m., to elect two delegates of each township and 
borough, to meet at the court-house in the borough of Brookville, on Friday, 
the 5th day of August, at one o'clock, to nominate candidates to be supported 
for the different county offices. 

" M. M. Meredith, 
" Chairman County Committee." 

The county then had twenty-three townships and four boroughs, giving 
us fifty-four delegates. The date fixed for the primaries was on the day set 
by the law of the State, passed in the spring of that year, for the special 
election for three amendments to our Constitution, one of which was to permit 
the soldiers in the field to vote. The date fixed for this call was a shrewd 
policy, as it materially assisted in bringing out a full Republican primary, and 
was a great aid in carrying that " soldier vote" issue in the county, which 
we did, as the full return gave fourteen hundred and ninety-seven for this 
amendment and twelve hundred and twenty against it, a majority of two 
hundred and seventy-seven. This issue was bitterly fought. After the 
national convention I had been appointed a member of the Union State Central 

671 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Committee by Simon Cameron, who was then chairman of that committee, and 
this soldier campaign in the county was conducted by Captain Meredith. The 
county convention was held on August 5, as called, and the following ticket 
selected : For District Attorney, A. C. White ; County Commissioners, I. C. 
Jordan, Eli B. Irvin; Auditor, Joseph P. North; Trustees of Academy, P. H. 
Shannon, M. M. Meredith, Calvin Rodgers. 

G. W. Andrews was made county chairman. Our Representative dis- 
trict was Clarion and Jefferson, and on September 9, at Corsica, Hunter Orr, 
of Clarion County, was declared the nominee for the Legislature. On Sep- 
tember 15 G. W. Schofield was declared in Ridgway our nominee for Con- 
gress. Dr. A. M. Clarke and S. W. Temple were our conferees there. This 
completed our ticket. There were no State officers to be elected. Nothing 
but district and county tickets in that October election. I do not recollect who 
was the Democratic chairman, but it is immaterial, for ex-Senator K. L. 
Blood dominated and controlled the Democratic party in this county then, and 
a bold, wiry, vigorous antagonist he was. Our Democratic Dutch friends 
used to make this reply : " I do not know how I votes. I votes for der Ken- 
nedy Blute anyhows." School-house meetings were held in all the townships. 
Local speakers were scarce. Most of them were in the army, and this labor 
then principally devolved upon Andrews and myself. Dr. Heichhold was fur- 
loughed about October 20 to help us. In our meetings we all abused Blood, 
and he in return abused us. Major Andrews was a great worker, and usually 
took a number of papers and documents to read from. What little I said 
was off-hand. The major would always say in his speeches that " the common 
people of the Democrats were honest, but the leaders of that party were 
rascals, traitors, and rebels." He was a Maine Yankee. We elected him to 
the State Constitutional Convention in 1872, and after his service there he 
removed to Denver, where he lived and died. 

For the August and October elections we had no funds except our own, 
and we were all poor alike. Our newspaper editor was John Scott, Esq. He 
was poor, too ; paper was high and hard to get, and, as a consequence of this, 
our organ, the Republican, was only published occasionally, and often only 
half-sheets : hence our meetings had to be advertised verbally and by written 
and printed posters. I had one horse. I traded some books for a second- 
hand buggy, and bought another horse that I would now be ashamed to own, 
and in this buggy and behind this team the major and I drove the circuit in 
October and November, stopping for dinner and over night, Methodist 
preacher fashion, with the brethren. It was a rainy fall, and all through 
October and November there was mud, — mud rich and deep, mud here and 
there, mud on the hill and everywhere, mud on the ground and in the air, and 
to those who travelled politically it was a mud-splashing as well as a mud- 
slinging campaign. We had a mass-meeting on October 8 in Brookville, and 
on that dav we had a strong address published, reviewing the issues to the 

672 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

people, signed by I. G. Gordon, Philip Taylor, T. K. Litch, A. S. Rhines, R. G. 
Wright, and J. P. Wann. The speakers for the mass-meeting were Chairman 
Andrews, Colonel Childs, of Philadelphia, Congressman Myers, and A. L. 
Gordon. J. W. Pope, the great campaign singer, from Philadelphia, by his 
patriotic songs, impelled us all to greater earnestness. In the October struggle 
we lost our county and Representative ticket, but Schofield was re-elected to 
Congress. A Congressman then never thought of having one or two bosses 
in a county to dispense post-offices. The Democrats carried the State on the 
home vote ; but, with the aid of the soldiers, we carried the State by a small 
majority. The anti-war Democrats greatly rejoiced at their victory on the 
home vote, and they confidently expected, as McClellan was a Pennsylvanian, 
that State pride would carry him through in November. The two elections 
were about one month apart. The soldier vote was denounced as the " bayonet 
vote" and " bayonet rule." Simon Cameron, our State chairman, was greatly 
disappointed at the loss of our State on the " home vote." After the October 
election Cameron sent me a draft for two hundred dollars in " rag-money," 
which I expended as judiciously as I knew how. We gained in the county 
sixty votes for the November election. I am sorry that I cannot give the 
manner of expenditure of this money. My accounts were all audited and the 
settlement-paper left with G. W. Andrews. McClellan had been the idol of the 
army and the people, and although he and Pendleton were nominated at 
Chicago on August 31, 1864, on a peace platform that the war had been a 
failure and a call to suspend hostilities, there never was a day that McClellan 
would not have been overwhelmingly elected in 1864, until in September, when 
Sherman captured Atlanta and Sheridan went whirling through the valley of 
Virginia. Everybody, Lincoln and all, knew this. These two victories gave 
the Union people great heart for hard work. After these victories, Fremont 
and Cochrane, who had been nominated at Cleveland, Ohio, on May 31, 1864, 
for President and Vice-President by radicals of the Republican party, with- 
drew, and both supported Lincoln. Our army before Richmond was idle, and, 
to effectually stop the " bayonet rule" charge, Meade furloughed five thousand 
soldiers for two weeks. Sheridan did the same, making ten thousand in all, 
and they went home and voted. This gave us the State on the home vote by 
about five thousand, and with the " bayonet vote" by about twenty thousand. 
In this election our county went as follows : 

Lincoln. McClellan. 

Home vote 1614 1756 

Army vote 207 1 1 1 

Total vote 1821 1867 

In the November election our county went Democratic : but we Repub- 
licans had a grand jubilee after the returns came in from the nation, as Mc- 
Clellan only carried three States. — viz., Kentucky, Delaware, and New Jersey. 
43 673 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Brevity requires many things that I would delight to say about Lincoln and 
this campaign to be omitted. Republican success gave assurance to the world 
that " the war for the Union would still be prosecuted," and it was, and 
Pennsylvania performed her duty, both politically and on the battle-fields. 
Pennsylvania gave to the national government during the war three hundred 
and eighty-seven thousand two hundred and eighty-four soldiers, including 
emergency men. Three times during the war Pennsylvania was invaded, and 
it remained for the Rebellion to receive its Waterloo at Gettysburg and from 
a Pennsylvania commander. 

In conclusion, it was the soldiers' bayonets and the " bayonet voters" of 
" Lincoln's hirelings" that crushed the rebellion and saved the Union. 

THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE 
(Extract from the Proceedings held in Brookville, Pennsylvania, November 23, 1896. ) 
The Jefferson County Teachers' Institute met in the court-house, Brook- 
ville, on Monday, at two p.m. After the enrolment of teachers, and the selec- 
tion of T. T. Millen as secretary, the following address of welcome to the 
teachers was delivered by Dr. W. J. McKnight, of Brookville : 

" Mr. Chairman and Teachers, — This is an assemblage of teachers, 
called an ' institute' — the institute of Jefferson County. What is its history ? 
Let us lift the veil from the past and ascertain. The Rev. John C. Wagaman, 
of Punxsutawney, was our first county superintendent, elected in 1854, and 
paid a salary of three hundred dollars a year. He resigned in 1856, and 
Samuel McElhose, of Brookville, succeeded him by appointment. Our first 
county institute was held by McElhose in the old Academy building, in Brook- 
ville, in October of 1856, continuing two weeks. The published call for it 
reads as follows : 

" ' Believing that much good can be done to the cause of common school 
education, by means of a county institute for the benefit of teachers, I hereby 
issue this call to teachers and those who wish to teach, requesting and urging 
each one of them to meet in Brookville, on Monday, the 20th day of October, 
at which time will commence, in the Academy, the first session of the Jeffer- 
son County Teachers' Institute. It will last two weeks. 

" ' Professor S. W. Smith will be present during the session. He is a 
graduate of the best of the New England schools, and has the advantage of 
several years practice as a teacher. The course of instruction will extend to a 
general review of the branches required to be taught in our common schools. 
It will be one leading object to treat at large on the subjects of school gov- 
ernment, classification of scholars, and the improved methods of teaching. 

" ' Persons who attend the institute will be at no expense except for their 
own boarding. Several gentlemen have tendered their services and will 

674 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

deliver lectures on topics connected with education at the proper times in the 
session. We again solicit the attendance of those who desire to teach in this 
county, and also extend a cordial invitation to the friends of education in this 
and other counties to be present. 

" ' S. McElhose, 
" ' County Superintendent. 
" ' Brookville, December 22, 1856.' 

" This institute was opened with prayer by Professor Smith. The work 
consisted largely of daily class drills, conducted by Professor Smith and 
Superintendent McElhose. Professor Smith was an educated gentleman, and 
died in Brookville a few years ago, after serving two terms as county super- 
intendent most acceptably. 

" The evening lectures before this first institute were free, delivered in 
the Presbyterian church, by local talent. They were by Rev. Thomas Graham 
on ' The Duties of Teacher,' A. L. Gordon, Esq., on ' Self-Knowledge,' and 
I. G. Gordon, Esq., on ' Discipline.' All these evening entertainments were 
announced to be held at ' candle lighting.' Day lectures were given before the 
institute by Superintendent McElhose, Professor Smith, on ' Astronomy,' and 
Dr. Cummins, on ' Physiology.' Numerous essays were read by the teachers 
present, on the beauties of nature, on education, on teaching, etc. Of the 
forty-two teachers who attended, I can recall but these : A. H. Brown, A. L. 
Gordon, J. C. Wilson, William Monks, T. Evans, John H. McKee, A. J. 
Monks, R. A. Travis, J. Kelso, Misses Maggie Polk, Jennie Craig, M. Kin- 
near, Abbie McCurdy, Martha Dennison, Emma Bishop, Mary McCormick, 
H. Thomas, Martha McCreight, and Messrs. C. M. Matson, David Dickey, 
and S. A. McAllister. The last three named are present with us to-day. 

" Extended discussion was had, and resolutions were passed in regard to 
the construction of school-houses, and concerning school furniture and school- 
books. The county then had one hundred and five school-houses, and sixty- 
eight male and fifty female teachers. 

" Samuel McElhose served as superintendent a part of a term by appoint- 
ment and two full terms by election, at a yearly salary of five hundred dollars. 
He was an educated and popular gentleman, a great worker, and the first in 
the county to agitate institutes. He held many of these, sometimes three or 
four in a year, some lasting three or four weeks. He was a good citizen, and 
a patriot, and died a private soldier in the army in 1863. 

" Ninety-two years ago, in the winter of 1804, John Dixon, father of the 
venerable John Dixon of Polk Township, taught the first school in this county. 
It was a subscription school, and the term was three months. The ' school- 
house' was two miles east of Brookville, on what is now the McConnell farm. 
It was twelve feet wide and sixteen feet long, was built of rough logs, and 
had no window-sash or glass. The light was admitted to the school-room 

675 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

through chinks in the walls, over which greased paper was plastered. The 
floor was of ' puncheons,' and the seats of broad pieces split from logs, with 
pins underneath for legs. The roof was covered with ' clapboards' held down 
by poles. Boards laid on pins driven into auger-holes in the walls furnished 
writing desks. A log fireplace, occupying an entire end of the room, supplied 
warmth when the weather was cold. 

" The second school was taught by John Johnson, in 1806, on the old 
' State Road,' near the present residence of William C. Evans, between Port 
Barnett and Brookville. The house was similar to the first one named, with 
the exception of a single window of six lights of 8 x 10 glass. This school 
cabin was heated by a ten-plate wood-stove, the invention of Franklin in 1800. 
and called by the people ' The Little Devil.' This was a subscription school 
also, and was known in those days as a ' neighborhood,' to distinguish it from 
the ' family' school. The building was erected by those interested. The tools 
used in constructing it were a pole-axe and an auger. The Master was hired 
by a committee of three, elected by the people at their own time and in their 
own way. This committee supervised the school. Children had to travel three 
or four miles in some cases, over trails and paths, where the Indian lurked and 
the wild beast prowled. 

" Although Penn had declared, in founding his colony, that ' wisdom and 
virtue must be carefully propagated by a virtuous education of the youth,' 
and although the constitution of 1790 declared in favor of the establishment 
of schools throughout the State that the poor might be taught gratis, yet it 
was not until 1809 that the Legislature attempted to obey this mandate. Col- 
leges and academies were, it is true, sparsely inaugurated, but they were not 
for the poor. Education was carried on by voluntary effort. The law of 
1809 simply provided that it should be the duty of the county commissioners 
and assessors of the townships to ascertain from the parents the names of all 
the children between the ages of five and twelve years who reside in each 
township, and whose parents were unable to pay for their schooling. These 
children then had the privilege of attending the nearest subscription school, 
under the restrictions of the committee, and the county had to pay for each 
pauper scholar by the month the same as the subscribers paid. This law was 
in existence for twenty-five years. It was despised by the poor and hated by 
the rich. The poor would not accept it because it declared them paupers. Its 
existence, however, kept up an agitation for a better system, which culminated 
in 1834-36, in what is known as the common school law. 

" In 1833 Governor Wolf ascertained, by careful inquiry, that under this 
law of 1809, out of four hundred thousand children in the State between the 
ages of five and twelve years, only twenty thousand attended any school 
whatever. 

'' The pioneer school-house in the southern part of the county was built 
of logs, in the fall of 1820, near John Bell's, a little more than a mile north- 

676 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

east of Perrysville. It was built after the fashion of the first school-house in 
the county, lighted, warmed, and furnished in the same manner. John B. 
Henderson taught the first school in this pioneer house in the winter of 1820. 

" Our oldest schoolmaster in the county is Joseph Magiffin — hale and 
hearty at the age of ninety. He taught near Dowlingville, in 1827. The books 
used in the pioneer schools were generally the Bible, Columbian Reader, 
Murray's Grammar, Pike's Arithmetic, Catechism, United States Speller, and 
New England Primer. As a matter of care and economy, these books were 
covered by the mothers with paper or cloth, generally calico or bed ticking. 
The pioneer school-masters were nearly all Irishmen, and, as a rule, well edu- 
cated. In the winter they usually wore a red flannel warmus, and sometimes 
white flannel pants. They taught their scholars from the proverbs of the poets, 
from the maxims of the surrounding forests, and from the tenets of the 
blessed Bible, whose apocalypse is love. Is it any wonder then that the log 
cabin and log school-house proved to be the birthplace and nursery of mental 
giants, of men who have blessed our country as rulers, statesmen, soldiers, 
scholars, orators, and patriots? What nation, old or new, has produced the 
equal of our Washington ? What nation has equalled our Jefferson, with his 
Declaration ' that all men are created free and equal' ? What nation has 
equalled our Lincoln, born and reared in a cabin, one of the people and for 
the people? With a heart alive to pity like an angel of mercy, he was ever 
at home in his office of President to the most humble citizen. This I know by 
personal experience. What nation has produced the superior of Chief Justice 
Marshall ? What orators have been more eloquent than Clay or Webster ? 
What nation has produced a greater than our military chieftain, Grant? who 
commanded larger armies, fought more battles, and won more victories than 
any other general history records. Napoleon's career is pigmy-like when com- 
pared to Grant's successes. What nation has equalled our inventors ? Fulton, 
born in Pennsylvania's woods, who harnessed steam to water craft ; Whitney, 
who invented the cotton-gin ; Morse, who sought out the telegraph ; McCor- 
mick, who made the reaper ; Howe, who made the sewing-machine, and 
Edison, the intellectual wonder and marvel of the world — born in Ohio and 
reared in the woods of Michigan ? Such a mental genius as he is could only 
be the son of an American ' school-marm." 

" I have not time to recapitulate the history of our country and its 
achievements. I can only say that what we are to-day we owe to the log 
cabin, the log school-house, and the pioneer school-master. 

"' We live in the age of steam and railroads, telegraphs, telephones, and 
of a free school system. ' We live in an age on ages telling ; to be living is 
sublime.' Yet you are pioneers, pioneers of a new era, an era of moral cour- 
age, of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man ; an era of honesty, 
of temperance, of plenty, of virtue, of wisdom, and of peace. And you, teach- 
ers, are the leaders in this grand new era. As such we welcome you to Brook- 

677 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

ville. We welcome you most heartily as friends and neighbors. We welcome 
you as citizens of our county, whose hills and valleys are sacred to us. We 
welcome you as the children of noble, courageous, patient, toiling pioneer 
heroes and heroines, who subdued the savage and the wild beasts of the forests, 
and reclaimed these lands. We welcome you as teachers under the free school 
system of the great State of Pennsylvania — made great by her forests, her 
fertile valleys, her mountains of coal, rivers of oil, and the enterprise of her 
sons and daughters, and whose free school system is the continued assurance 
of American liberty. We welcome you as teachers in an empire whose State 
insignia proclaims to the world Virtue, Liberty, and Independence. We 
welcome each one of you to Brookville for your individual worth, and we 
welcome you as an aggregation of intelligent force assembled in our midst for 
the public good. Finally, we welcome you as teachers convened to learn more 
thoroughly how to impart intelligence, teach virtue, wisdom, and patriotism 
under our flag, the emblem of all that is dear to man and woman in and 
for the best government on the face of the earth." 

EARLY POSTAL ROUTES AND RIDES 

" More than sixty-seven years ago the first Tuesday of April, 1830, a 
bright, beautiful morning, I started forth from my log cabin home with a 
United States mail-bag, on my black pacing horse Billy, with Bob Thompson, 
then about my own age (twelve years), on his dwarf mule Bully, to penetrate 
the wilderness through a low grade of the Allegheny Mountains, between the 
Allegheny River at Kittanning and the west branch of the Susquehanna River 
at Curwensville, sixty-five miles and return each week, Robert going along 
to show me the way. 

" I have climbed the Rockies with a burro since that period in search of 
gold and silver, but I have never met either so primitive a people or a rougher 
route of sixty-five miles than that wilderness route. The post-offices were 
Glade Run, Smicksburg, Ewing's Mill, Punxsutawney, and Curwensville. 
The first of these was eighteen miles from Kittanning, near where is now the 
little town of Dayton. 

" In about three months the route was changed up the Cowanshannock, 
and the Rural Valley post-office established about two miles above Patterson's 
mill. The changed route intersected the old one at Glade Run post-office. 
The next place east of Glade Run was the residence of George McComb, 
where I rested for dinner and fed my horse. A stretch of over two miles 
brought me to Smicksburg, as now spelled, but the original founder spelled 
his name Schmick. Mr. Carr, the blacksmith, was postmaster. For more than 
four miles there was'not a single house on the road, though a cabin was to be 
seen in the distance, until I reached Ewing's Mill, another post-office. My 
place of lodging for the first night was with James McComb, four miles from 
Punxsutawney, and never did a boy find a more pleasant home. 

678 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" The second day I rode ten miles for breakfast, passing Punxsutawney, 
where Dr. Jenks was postmaster. The town was a mere hamlet, principally 
a lumbering camp, surrounded with the finest of white pine, which was rafted 
in hewed logs down Mahoning Creek to the Allegheny River, and thence to 
Pittsburg. It is a rapid, rocky, crooked stream, and the logs were hewed 
square to make their transit over safe, both by reducing their size and securing 
a smooth, even surface. Six miles farther on was a farm, a few acres, the 
home of Andrew Bowers, where I ate breakfast, then entered a wilderness of 
sixteen miles. Those sixteen miles of wilderness were then a most dismal 
district of country, heavily timbered with pine, spruce, hemlock, and chestnut, 
with much undergrowth of laurel. In this dreary waste I saw every animal 
native to the clime, except the panther, of which more hereafter. 

" After emerging from this wilderness, in which the sun was never visible, 
there was a settlement of Quakers, known as the Grampian Hills, near the 
centre of which was a fine farm, the home of a colored man, Samuel Cochran, 
where I took dinner, and then passed on to Curwensville, the end of my 
route. I returned to Cochran's for the second night's rest. The object of this 
return was to be ready to enter the wilderness and give good time to get 
through it before the shades of evening had fallen. Once I realized the 
wisdom of this plan when high water delayed me, so that I was compelled to 
stop at Bowers's place for the night and ride through the wilderness twice in 
a day, entering at the dawn of morning and reaching the place of departure 
amid darkness. 

" Was I lonely? If the shriek of the panther, the growl of the bear, the 
howling of the wolf, the hooting of the owl is society, I was far from lonely. 
When I realized my situation I drove the spurs into my horse and rushed him 
with all his speed. My heart-beats seemed to drown the racket of his hoofs 
upon the stony road. The return was but a repetition of the outgoing journey. 
I never made such a trip again. 

" My predecessor was John Gillespie, of whose history since I know 
nothing, but there was a story that in his ambition to create a favorable im- 
pression of the importance of his charge he frequently horrified a good Pres- 
byterian preacher, who was the Glade Run postmaster, by stuffing the mail- 
bag with crab-apples, and made indignant the good Mrs. McComb, where he 
had lodged the night previously, by laying the mischief to the McComb 
children. A plethoric mail-bag always opened the eyes of the rural postmaster, 
and it was fun to John to witness the indignation of the good Mr. Jenks and 
hear the screaming of laughter of the villagers, just arrived to get the latest 
news, when a peck of crab-apples, but no letter, rolled out on the floor at 
Punxsutawney. 

" Those were the days of William T. Barry as postmaster-general. I used 
to collect government's moiety in each of the little post-offices in driblets of 
five to ten dollars, with the plain signature of ' Wm. T. Barry, P. M. G.,' 

679 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

attached to the orders, and looked at the great man's name with admiration, 
until I really think I could distinguish his handwriting now. 

" On more than two-thirds of the little farms no wagon-tracks were to 
be seen, all the work being done with sleds. Nevertheless, there were occa- 
sional freighters through the wilderness, generally loaded with salt. The only 
stores in that sixty miles were one at Glade Run and one at Punxsutawney. 
The people made all their own clothes. Nearly every family that had a 
daughter as old as fourteen years had a weaver. The blooming miss who 
learned that art was an artist indeed. It was a treat for the boys who had 
no sister weaver to carry the yarn to the neighbor girl and help her adjust 
the web for the work. Their clothes were made from the backs of the sheep 
and the flax in the field. The girls wore linsey-woolsey and the boys linen 
and tow shirts, and indeed full suits of the same for common work. The fine 
clothes for the girls were barred flannel of their own spinning, and the boys 
satinet, — then generally called cassinet, — flax, and wool. The preachers and 
the teachers were reverenced and respected, but woe unto them if they even 
seemed to put on airs on account of their ' store clothes.' 

" Many were the expedients for social gatherings ; but to these brave, 
industrious pioneers it was essential to unite business with pleasure, and I 
rarely heard of a party which was not utilized for the advancement of im- 
provements on the farm. The singing-school was the only exception. In the 
log-rolling, the wood-chopping, the flax-scutching, the sheep-shearing, all 
the neighbors would go the rounds helping each other, in the spirit of the 
song. — 

" ' Let the wide world wag as it will, 
We'll be gay and happy still.' 

" ' Scutching' was the term used for the primitive mode of separating the 
woody part of the flax from the fibre used in weaving cloth, and a scutching 
was a jolly party, in which the boys took the heavier part, and passed the 
' hank' to the girls for the lighter, more delicate work of polishing. 

" Thus the logs were rolled in the clearings, the flax and wool prepared 
for the loom, and the firewood made ready for the winter. But the most 
primitive, most amusing, and the merriest gathering of all was the kicking 
frolic. 

" It is doubtful whether any of the readers of this book have ever seen a 
kicking frolic. Let me try to describe it. As I have said, the people made 
all their own clothes in those days. After the web was woven, the next 
process was fulling, whereby the cloth was properly shrunken for use. Gen- 
erally it was taken to fulling-mills, but in some parts they were so far away 
and so expensive that the wits of the pioneers were compelled to invent a 
substitute. One night, at my journey's end for the day, near Punxsutawney, I 
was invited to go with the McComb boys to Henderson's kicking. The girls 

680 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

of the whole neighborhood had spent the afternoon at quilting, for the quilting 
was an accompaniment of nearly all the other frolics, and at dark the boys 
assembled for the kicking. The good old Mrs. Henderson had prepared a 
boiler full of soapsuds. The web of cloth was placed on the kitchen floor, — a 
floor generally made from puncheons, — that is, logs split and smoothed with 
the axe and adze. Around the web was placed a circle of chairs, with a plough- 
line or a clothes-line circling the chairs, to hold the circle together for work. 
Thus equipped the boys took off shoes and stockings, rolled up their pants 
to their knees, placed themselves on the chairs in the circle, and then the 
kicking began. The old lady poured on the soapsuds as hot as the boys' feet 
could stand, and they sent the web whirling and the suds splashing to the 
ceiling of the kitchen, and thus the web was fulled to the proper thickness and 
dimensions. Despite the good Mrs. Henderson's protestations that ' the hard 
work would kill the boys,' I stripped and went in, and never did a boy so sweat 
in his life. The work was done. The barred flannel was ready for the girls' 
dresses, the blankets for the beds, and the satinet for the boys' clothes. A 
merrier time boys and girls never enjoyed, nor did a party ever have a better 
supper than Mrs. Henderson prepared. There was no dance, but the kissing 
plavs of the time lent zest to the occasions, and 

" ' In the wee sma' hours ayont the twal' 

all returned to happy homes. 

" The threshing machinery was unknown to the farmers anywhere, and 
the flail did the work of threshing. Even the fanning-mill was uncommon, as 
I remember of but three on all that route. There was a mode of winnowing 
grain by three men, one shaking the wheat in the chaff through a ridder or 
sieve, and two waving a tightly drawn sheet, producing wind to separate the 
chaff from the grain. 

" In places I have seen hand-mills for grinding corn and wheat. They 
had an upper and nether millstone, the upper stone being turned by a ' handle' 
standing nearly perpendicularly above the centre of the stone. 

" In the wilderness was every animal native to the clime, — the deer, the 
wild turkey, the fox, the raccoon, the wolf, the porcupine, the bear, and the 
panther. There I have seen scores of such animals. Frequently I have met 
bears in pairs, but I never saw a panther, though I frequently heard their 
familiar screams. It was a shy animal, but considered the most dangerous of 
all wild animals. On one occasion, when near the middle of that wilderness 
of sixteen miles, I was startled by the fearful screams of a panther, which, 
from the sound, seemed fast approaching me. Hurriedly breaking a limb 
from a spruce tree, I lashed my horse into all his speed ; still the screams 
became more distinct and frightful. I had perhaps run my horse a quarter 
of a mile, when a bear rushed through the thick underbrush across the road. 

68 1 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

not more than two rods ahead of me, the screaming of the panther sounding 
as if he was not a rod behind in the brush. The bear never stopped to look at 
me, and I plied my stick to the horse's back, shoulder, and flank with all my 
power, running him until the sounds gradually died away, and the exhausted 
horse gave out and I was compelled to slacken my speed. My first stopping- 
place was at the house of Mr. Andrew Bowers, at the edge of the wilderness. 
I told him my story, and he replied, ' John, that was a " painter," and that 
" painter" was after that bear, and if he had come up to that bear when you 
were near it, he would have jumped onto you quicker than the bear. Now, 
John,' he continued, ' don't run, nor don't advance on it. If you do either, the 
" painter" will attack you. But just stop and look the " painter" in the eye, 
and by and by he will quietly walk off.' 

" I have twice seen in the wilderness that rarest of animals, the black fox, 
whose fur rivals the seal and the sable in ladies' apparel. 

" Did I ever see ghosts ? Of course I did. What could a poor post-boy 
know of cause and effect in the wilderness which has since developed some 
of the most wonderful gas-wells of the age? In that wild country the ignis 
fatuus was frequently seen. Once I saw a floating light in the darkness, and ■ 
in my fright was trotting my horse at his best speed, when he stumbled on a 
rock, throwing me clear over his head, the mail-bag following. I grabbed the 
bags and was on my horse's back before he could get off his knees. The ' ghost' 
in the mean time had vanished. At another time, when about half-way between 
Smicksburg and Punxsutawney, a light as brilliant, it seemed to me, as Paul 
saw on his way to Damascus, shot up under ray horse. I grabbed my hat, as 
my hair seemed to stand on end. I was so alarmed that I told my story to the 
postmaster at Ewing's Mill, and he relieved my mind greatly by explaining 
the phenomenon. He said, ' Was there snow on the ground ?' ' Yes.' And 
then he went on to relieve my fears in the most kindly way, telling me that all 
the stories about ghosts, spooks, and hobgoblins could be explained on natural 
principles. He said that at times natural gas exuded from between the rocks, 
and that the snow confined it, and that my horse's shoe had struck fire from 
the flinty rock, and the gas exploded. I believed him, and my ghost story- 
was exploded, too, but I would have killed a horse before I would have 
ventured over that spot in night-time again. 

" The boys of that period had as much fun in their composition as those 
of the present age. One Hallowe'en we sauntered ' on fun intent' near where 
Dayton now stands. We lodged a yearling calf in a hay-mow, changed the 
hind wheels of the only two wagons in the neighborhood to the forward axles, 
and vice versa, robbed a loom and strung the maiden's web from tree to tree 
across the road, andrhanged the natural order of things generally. I remem- 
ber especially that in our mischief we accidentally broke a window in the 
house of a good old couple. We repaid damages by a boy slipping up and 
depositing fifty cents on the sill of the broken window. The old people were 

6S2 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

so universally esteemed that malicious mischief would have been investigated ; 
but whether the motive for recompense was remorse for a bad act or esteem 
for their two beautiful daughters with raven locks and black eyes, this boy 
will only confess for himself. The McComb boys reported that one of the 
girls called on the way to the store the next day for glass and expressed the 
gratitude of the family for the kind consideration of the boys in making 
restitution. 

" I distinctly remember how we all put in our utmost strength to place 
a log endwise against the door of Dr. Sims's house, so as to press it inward 
with such force that an urgent call before morning compelled the doctor to 
crawl out of the window." — Punxsutawney News. 

In the fall of 1852 I made my pioneer trip as a mail-boy on the " Star 
route" from Brookville to Ridgway, Pennsylvania. In 1852 this was still a 
horseback service of once a week and was to be performed as follows : 

Leave Brookville Tuesday at five o'clock a.m. and arrive at Ridgway 
same day at seven o'clock p.m. Leave Ridgway Wednesday at five o'clock 
a.m. and arrive same day at Brookville at seven o'clock p.m. 

The proprietor of the route was John G. Wilson, then keeping the Ameri- 
can Hotel in Brookville. To start the service on schedule time was easy 
enough, but to reach the destined point in the schedule time was almost impos- 
sible. The mail was usually from one to three hours late. Indeed, it could 
not be otherwise, for the route was through a wilderness, over horrid roads, 
and about seven miles longer than the direct road between the points. 

It was too much work in too short a time for one horse to carry a heavy 
mail-bag and a boy. On my first trip I left Brookville at five a.m., James 
Corbet, the postmaster, placing the bag on the horse for me. I rode direct 
to Richardsville, where William R. Richards, the pioneer of that section, was 
postmaster. From Richardsville I went to Warsaw, where Moses B. St. 
John was postmaster. He lived on the Keys farm near the Warsaw grave- 
yard. From St. John's I rode by way of what is now John Fox's to the 
Beechwoods, McConnell farm, or Alvin post-office, Alex. McConnell, post- 
master. From Alvin I went direct to what is now Brockwayville for dinner. 
Dr. A. M. Clarke was postmaster, and it was at his house I ate, to my disgust, 
salt rising bread. 

■ The doctor and his father lived in a large frame house near where the 
old grist-mill now stands. The old up and down saw-mill across the creek 
was then in operation. C. K. Huhn I think lived near it. The old frame 
school-house stood on a prominence near the junction of the Brookville and 
Beechwoods roads. Henry Dull, one of the pioneer stage-drivers in Jefferson 
County, lived in an old frame building near where D. D. Groves now resides, 
and John McLaughlin lived in an old log house down by the Rochester depot. 

With these exceptions, all west of the creek in what is now Brockwayville 
was a wilderness. East of the creek the bottom land was cleared and along 

683 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

the road on each side was a log fence. W. D. Murray and the Ingalls family 
lived near the Pennsylvania depot. 

There was no other family or store or industry to my recollection in what 
is now the beautiful town of Brockwayville. 

About five miles up the Little Toby, and in Elk County, Mrs. Sarah 
Oyster kept a licensed hotel, and the only licensed tavern in that year outside 
of or between Brookville and Ridgway. Near this hotel Stephen Oyster lived, 
and had erected a grist-mill and saw-mill. Oyster was postmaster, and the 
office was named Hellen Mills. 

Stephen Oyster's house and mills were alongside or on the pioneer road 
into this region. The road was surveyed and opened about 1812, and over it 
the pioneers came to Brandy Camp, Kersey, and Little Toby. Fox, Norris 
& Co. owned about one hundred and forty thousand acres of land in this 
vicinity, and desiring to open these lands for settlement, employed William 
Kersey, a surveyor, to survey, open a road, and build a mill on their lands. 

Kersey and his men started his road on the Susquehanna River near 
Luthersburg, on the old State Road, crossed over Boone's mountain, reached 
Little Toby at what is now Hellen, went up the creek seven miles, over what 
is called " Hog Back Hill" to a point on Elk Creek near where Centreville now 
is, and then located and built " Kersey Mill." 

Kersey had an outfit and a number of men, and erected shanties wherever 
necessary while at his work. One of these he built on Brandy Camp. Among 
other necessaries, Kersey had some choice brandy with him. The men longed 
for some of this brandy, but Kersey kept it for himself. One day in the 
absence of Kersey the cabin burned down. 

On Kersey's return he was chagrined, but the men told him that the 
Indians in the neighborhood had drunk his brandy and burned the shanty. 
This story had to be accepted, and hence the stream has ever since been called 
Brandy Camp. " The Travellers' Home Hotel" was on this stream. It was 
famous for dancing parties, blackberry pies, and sweet cake, but was closed 
this year and occupied as a private residence by a man named Brown. 

Night came upon me at the farm of Joel Taylor, and through nine miles 
of wilderness and darkness I rode at a walk. There was a shanty at Boot- 
jack occupied by a man named McOuone. From Taylor's to Ridgway was a 
long ride to me. It was a wearisome time. 

I reached Ridgway, a small village then, about nine o'clock p.m. John 
Cobb was postmaster, and the office was in his store, near where Powell's 
store is now. My horse knew the route perfectly, and I left all details to her. 

Two hotels existed in the village, the Exchange, kept by David Thayer, 
near the river, and the Cobb House, kept by P. T. Brooks, on the ground 
where Messenger's drug-store now is. My horse stopped at the Cobb. For 
some reason the house was unusually full that night, and after supper I 
expressed to the landlord a doubt about a bed. 

684 



) 

HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Mr. Brooks patted me on the back and said, " Never mind, my son, I'll 
take care of you, I'll take care of you." Bless his big heart, he did. Boy- 
like, my eyes and ears were open. I took in the town before leaving it. The 
only pavement was in front of the Gillis house. I knew of the Judge's repu- 
tation as a Morgan killer, and I wanted to see where and how he lived. I had 
seen him in Brookville many a time before that. 

There was a board fence around the public square. Charles Mead was 
sheriff, and lived in the jail. The village had a doctor, one Chambers. The 
school-teacher was W. C. Niver, afterwards Dr. Niver, of Brockwayville, 
Pennsylvania. 

Of the village inhabitants then, I can recall these : Judge Gillis, E. C. 
Derby, M. L. Ross, Henry Souther, Caleb Dill, James Love, J. C. Chapin, 
Lebbeus Luther, a hunter and great marksman ; Lafe Brigham, 'Squire Par- 
sons, E. E. Crandal, Charles McVean, Judge Dickinson, J. S. Hyde, and 
Jerome Powell, editor of the Advocate. 

In January, 1855, I carried the mail one trip on horseback to Warren 
from Ridgway. A man by the name of Lewis was the proprietor, and he 
boarded at Luther's. I performed this service free, as I was anxious to see 
Warren. 

I had to start from Ridgway on Friday night at nine p.m., ride to Mont- 
morenci, and stop all night. A family by the name of Burrows lived there. 
I stopped on Saturday in Highland for dinner at Townley's. There was 
living in that township then Wells, Ellithorpe, Campbell, and Townley. I 
arrived in Warren Saturday after dark, and stayed over night at the Carver 
house. I returned on Sunday from Warren to Ridgway, and the weather 
being intensely cold, " I paid too dear for my whistle." 

PENNSYLVANIA SYSTEM OF RAILROADS PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD INCEPTION, 

CONCEPTION, AND COMPLETION HORSE-CAR ENGINE PIONEER PRESI- 
DENT PIONEER RESTAURANT PURCHASE FROM STATE RAILROAD AGITA- 
TION AND EXPERIMENT LOCOMOTIVE FUEL COACHES SLEEPERS UNI- 
FORMS FREIGHTAGE ORIGIN OF THE PASS SYSTEM DISCRIMINATION — 

WHEN THE PIONEER TRAIN RAN INTO PITTSBURG FROM PHILADELPHIA 

I am indebted to Sipes's as well as Wilson's histories of the Pennsylvania 
Road for some data and facts. 

What is now the Pennsylvania system has evoluted from agitation and 
experience. John Stephens, of New Jersey, advocated, in 1812, the use of 
steam in land-carriages. When he was seventy-four years old the Legislature 
of Pennsylvania, at his earnest appeal, passed an act, on March 31, 1823, to 
" incorporate a company to erect a railroad from Philadelphia to Lancaster." 
Nine wealthy and influential men were made incorporators. John Connelly. 
of Philadelphia, was named as president of the company. So little confidence 
was had in the scheme that five thousand dollars could not be raised from any 

685 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

source to start the enterprise, hence the Legislature, in 1826, repealed the 
charter. Several charters were granted after this, but they all perished from 
indifference or opposition. In 1827 the State, through the canal commission- 
ers, ordered a series of surveys to be made, and a report made in 1827 by 
Major John Wilson, one of the surveyors, induced the Legislature to pass 
the act of March 24, 1828, authorizing the construction of a railroad by the 
State, from Philadelphia through Lancaster to Columbia. In April, 1829, 
forty miles of track were laid, twenty at each terminal. In April, 1834, the 
single track clear through was opened and connected with the Pennsylvania 
Canal, and on April 16 the first train of cars with an engine started over the 
line. To provide against accident, a horse-car followed this train with horse 
relays. Horse relays were twelve miles apart. 

By the first of October, 1834, the last spike was driven in the double 
track. The act of April 13, 1846, authorized the Pennsylvania Railroad to 
construct a road from Harrisburg to Pittsburg. This road was chartered 
February 25, 1847. The company was organized on March 31, 1847, with 
Samuel Vaughn Merrick, president, and eleven directors. 

On April 9, 1847, John Edgar Thompson was chosen chief, and W. B. 
Foster, Jr., and Edward Miller, associate engineers. Grading commenced at 
Harrisburg July 7, 1847. This was the beginning of the Pennsylvania Road. 
In about two years trains were running to Lewistown. In 1850 the road was 
completed to the Allegheny Portage Railroad. On the 10th of December, 
1852, cars were running from Philadelphia, over the Columbia Road, the 
Portage Road, and the Pennsylvania Road, into Pittsburg. The Portage Road 
was one of the wonders of America^ Passenger changes were at Harrisburg 
and Dillersburg. Each passenger-car carried an eight-foot plank on which 
the passengers walked the plank to make these changes. 

The pioneer restaurant in 1856 was the " pie-and-cake" stand on the 
railroad platform. From this was sold pies, " mint stick candy," sour balls, 
ju-ju-be paste, licorice balls, Baltimore plug, ginger bread, mead, root beer, 
and half-Spanish cigars. 

On June 25, 1847, J orm Edgar Thompson, for seven and a half million 
dollars, bought the public works of Pennsylvania, and on August 1, 1857, the 
Pennsylvania took possession of the main line of public works of Pennsylvania, 
which embraced the Columbia Railroad to Philadelphia, and on July 18, 1858, 
the Pennsylvania Railroad ran the first passenger wide car train into Pitts- 
burg from Philadelphia without a change of cars. To this train was attached 
a Woodruff sleeper and a smoking-car, the first smoker ever used. Up to 1843 
the cost of the public works to the State was $14,361,320.25. Horses were 
used more or less orr'the Portage Road up to 1850. In 1857 this road was 
abandoned. 

Railroad agitation and experimentation date back to 1773. Oliver Evans 
then declared he could build and run a carriage with steam. In 1805 he did. 

686 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

In 1809 Thomas Leiper constructed a tram-road in Delaware County, 
Pennsylvania, a mile long. It was all wood, and a single horse drew the car. 
The second railway in Pennsylvania was built in 1827, — a horse-road nine 
miles long. The first locomotive was used in 1829. The pioneer railroad 
in Pennsylvania for passengers and freight was the Germantown Road, and 
the pioneer passenger train left Philadelphia June 6, 1832, drawn by horses. 
These horse-cars on the level ran about eight miles an hour, and had relays 
like the stages. The pioneer road into the interior of the State was the 
Columbia and Philadelphia. The State owned the road-bed, and any or every- 
body could use it by paying two cents a mile for each passenger he carried 
and four dollars and ninety-two cents for each coach sent over it, but the 
coaches were mostly owned and generally managed by old stage men. It was 
not until 1836 that locomotives were generally used on railroads. The fuel 
was coke and wood, twenty bushels of coke to one cord and a half of wood. 

The first tunnel built in the United States was at Staple Bend, four miles 
east of Johnstown. It was built by the State. 

William B. Sipes says, — 

" The Columbia Railroad, being one of the first built in the United States, 
contained most of the defects of our primitive roads. It was very crooked, — 
some of the curves being of but six hundred and thirty-one feet radius. Its 
gradients, owing to the comparatively level country over which it was built 
and the care of the engineers who located it, were not heavy, in no place ex- 
ceeding forty-five feet per mile, and that for a very short distance, while the 
uniform grade was kept at thirty feet. An inclined plane was at each ter- 
minus, — that at Philadelphia being two thousand eight hundred and five feet 
in length, and one hundred and eighty-seven feet rise, while that at Columbia 
was eighteen hundred feet in length and ninety feet rise. These were at a 
subsequent period avoided without materially increasing the average gradient 
of the road. The track was of varied construction, consisting in part of 
granite or wooden sills, on which were secured flat rails; of edge rails on 
stone blocks and stone sills, and of edge rails on stone blocks and locust sills. 
These gradually gave place to modern improvements, and many of the sharper 
curves were straightened. 

" The road having been constructed to be operated by horse-power, the 
track and turn-outs were adapted for that purpose. For several years these 
horse-cars were regularly run between Columbia and Philadelphia. They 
were built something like the old stage-coach, but larger, the entrance door 
being at the side, and the driver occupying an elevated seat in front. The 
time of these cars over the road — a distance of eighty-two miles — was about 
nine hours, the horses being changed every twelve miles. 

" The first locomotive put on the road was built in England and named 
the ' Black Hawk,' after the celebrated Indian chief. As the eastern end of 
the road was not then completed, this engine was hauled over the turnpike to 

687 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Lancaster, where her trips were to commence, and she was to be used between 
that city and Columbia. The day for her trial trip was a beautiful one, and 
thousands of people had gathered from the surrounding country to witness 
the novel performance. Governor Wolf and the State officials were all in 
Lancaster to participate, and the excitement ran high. Men were stationed 
along the track to keep the too venturesome boys out of danger, and among 
these guardians was an Irishman, who made himself particularly officious. 
Armed with a club, he paraded along the road, shouting to the eager urchins, 
' Get out of the track! When she starts she'll go like a bird, and ye'll all be 
kilt.' The important moment came, — the engineer pulled the lever, but the 
locomotive would not go. At length, by pushing, the train was got under 
way; but the wonderful machine did not 'go like a bird.' She proved a 
failure, in fact, and her history is lost in oblivion. 

" Soon after, three smaller engines were imported and put on the road. 
These did better than their predecessor, and about 1836 locomotives were 
regularly put to work, to the exclusion of horse-power. From this time on 
the State furnished the motive power, while all cars used for the transpor- 
tation of passengers and freight were the property of individuals. A regular 
rate of toll was charged for the use of the road and for motive power." 

Rebates, discrimination, and the pass system originated with the State 
management in 1834, continued during the public ownership of the works for 
twenty-one years. So frightful were these abuses under the State manage- 
ment that the State became bankrupt. Now, under private or corporate use 
the management is healthy and profitable. 

The chair-car was introduced on night lines in 1847. The pioneer sleep- 
ing-car (Woodruff's) was used in 1837-38; the Pullman sleeper in 1871. 

Uniforms were introduced in the Harrisburg division about 1856. The 
uniform was a blue coat with brass buttons, buff vest, and black trousers. This 
uniform was so unpopular with the employees and the people that they were 
abandoned, but the Civil War popularized the uniforms, and the present 
uniform was adopted in 1876. Up to that period the word " conductor" was 
worn on the left lapel of the coat. It is now on the cap. 

On July 6, 1837, two coal-burning locomotives were tried, but they proved 
useless. 

Travel from Philadelphia to Pittsburg, in 1834, was as follows: Over 
the Columbia Railroad, eighty-two miles ; canal from Columbia to Holidays- 
burg, one hundred and seventy-two miles ; Portage Railroad from Holidays- 
burg to Johnstown, thirty-six miles ; and on canal from Johnstown to Pitts- 
burg, one hundred and four miles; total, three hundred and ninety-four miles. 
The frequent transfers made the journey long and tedious and the cost of 
freightage high. Summit tunnel was used January 21, 1854, but was not 
completed until February 17, 1855. December 10, 1852, an all-rail line was 
opened from Harrisburg to Pittsburg. 

688 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

A writer, in 1903, has the following to say of the Pennsylvania system : 

" For fifty years the Pennsylvania has been the foremost railroad of the 
United States. Its operating system and equipment have become the standards 
toward which practical railroad men strive from year to year. From the 
beginning a genius in management has built up and strengthened its position, 
not only deriving from the public unnumbered privileges, which have made 
expansion and improvement possible, but gaining and holding public endorse- 
ment and admiration. To-day it is the undisputed leader among railroads, its 
far-flung lines drawing power and wealth from the whole eastern half of the 
continent. Westward to the Mississippi, northward to the lakes, eastward to 
the seaboard, southward to the Gulf, the Pennsylvania and its systems have 
an unshaken grip upon the illimitable enterprise of transportation. 

" The richest territory between the oceans yields its tribute. The road 
drives straight through the great manufacturing districts. Its main line and 
branches reach the coal-mines, the oil regions, the natural gas-fields, and 
through its connections it extends to the granaries of the West and the steel- 
mines of the North. More than this, the company is absolute master of the 
bituminous mining interests, gets a generous share of the anthracite business, 
and virtually owns two of the largest independent steel plants in the country. 

" In transportation the Pennsylvania has a monopoly in effect, if not in 
fact. By purchase or agreement it controls the Baltimore and Ohio, the Phila- 
delphia and Reading, the Norfolk and Western, the Chesapeake and Ohio, the 
Western New York and Pennsylvania, the Hocking Valley, and a score of 
less important lines. It is the .master railroad. 

" Translate these generalities to cold figures, and the magnitude of the 
corporation becomes more striking. The Pennsylvania operates directly three 
thousand seven hundred and six miles of track, and, by control or affiliation, a 
total of ten thousand seven hundred and eighty-four miles. Its capital stock 
is more than two hundred and four million dollars, and the authorized issue 
is four hundred million dollars. When it is understood that every dollar rep- 
resents, or will represent, cash investment, the swollen bulk of the Steel Trust 
shrinks in comparison, and the Pennsylvania Railroad stands forth as the 
greatest industrial institution in the country. 

" Its growth has been enormous. Forty years ago, with a mileage of 
eight hundred and fifty-six miles, its gross earnings were $19,500,000; in 
1902 its gross earnings were $112,663,000. Including affiliated lines, this 
corporation earned during that year a little less than $220,000,000. The com- 
bined system carried nearly two hundred and seventy million tons of freight, 
and nearly one hundred and sixteen million passengers. The company owns 
in stocks and bonds of various roads $318,000,000. During the next two or 
three years it purposes to spend $67,000,000 in improvement east of Pittsburg, 
aside from the gigantic operation of tunnelling under the North River to 
reach the heart of New York city." 

44 689 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

William Augustus Patton, now (1905) first assistant to President Cas- 
satt, entered the service of the General Superintendent's office when a boy 
of sixteen, January 1, 1865, and was promoted to chief clerk of Alexander 
Johnston Cassatt on August 1, 1872, when Mr. Cassatt was general manager 
of the road. On October 1, 1882, Mr. Patton was transferred to the presi- 
dent's department, and on April 1, 1884, was appointed general assistant in 
that department. On May 4, 1884, he was elected vice-president of the New 
York, Philadelphia and Norfolk Railroad, and on June 14, 1899, he was 
elected president of that company, and is still serving in that capacity. Mr. 
Patton is a veteran in the service of the road, having been connected with it 
continuously for more than forty years. His service has been long, faithful, 
intelligent, wise, and efficient. He has been a success in every department he 
has served. He is a natural-born gentleman. His warm heart and genial 
deportment have made, the road a host of friends. 

Alexander Johnston Cassatt was elected president of the Pennsylvania 
system June 9, 1899. He is a Northwestern Pennsylvania product. He was 
born in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, in 1839. This city lies within the 
purchase of 1784. In 1861 Cassatt was appointed rodman on the Philadel- 
phia division. In two years from that date he was made an assistant engineer. 
In 1864 he was assistant engineer, at Renovo, of the middle division of the 
Philadelphia and Erie Road. In 1867 he was transferred to Altoona. On 
April 1, 1870, he was made general superintendent of the Pennsylvania Road. 
In 1 87 1 he was manager of all lines east of Pittsburg and Erie. On July 1. 
1874, he was chosen third vice-president; on June 1, 1880, he was promoted 
to first vice-president. I am proud of him as a Western Pennsylvanian. I 
am proud of his courage, skill, enterprise, and prudence. I am proud of the 
Pennsylvania Road, and under Cassatt and staff's management it is to-day, as 
a success, a marvel and wonder of the world. (See page 661.) 

PIONEER RAILROADS IN NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA ACT TO INCORPORATE 

SUNBURY AND ERIE CONSTRUCTION COMMENCED LENGTH OF ROAD 

OPENING OF ROAD WHEN COMPLETED — PIONEER INCORPORATORS PRESI- 
DENT, ENGINEER, MEETINGS, ETC. 

In 1835 the pioneer locomotive railroad cars were running in Pennsylva- 
nia. These were three in number, and in this year the public began the agita- 
tion of a railroad from Philadelphia to Erie. In 1834 this project was com- 
pleted from Philadelphia to Harrisburg. In 1837 forty locomotives were 
in use. 

An act to incorporate the Sunbury and Erie, and Pittsburg and Susque- 
hanna Railroad Companies was passed April 3, 1837, and approved by Gov- 
ernor Joseph Ritner. This formed the last link. Under the act commissioners 
were appointed from different counties of the State to open books and receive 

690 




William Augustus Patton 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

subscriptions to the stock of the company. Those from Northwestern Penn- 
sylvania were as follows : 

Erie County, R. S. Reed, P. S. V. Hamot, John A. Tracy, Daniel Dob- 
bins, Josiah Kellogg, Edwin J. Kelso, William Fleming, Isaac G. Williams, 
John H. Walker, Joseph S. Colt, Thomas H. Sill, Gillis Sanford, William 
Kelly. 

Lycoming County, Joseph B. Anthony, William F. Parker, Dr. W. R. 
Power, Henry Hughes, Dr. Arthur Davidson, John H. Cowden, William 
Wilson, Tunison Coryell, Nicholas Funston, William A. Petrikin, Joshua 
Bowman, Peter Shoemaker, Isaac Bruner, James Wilson. James Gamble, 
Alexander Hamilton, William Johnson, Jr., Robert Carson, Benjamin Hays. 

Warren County, Robert Falconer, Josiah Hall, Stephen Littlefield, Obed 
Edson, Thomas Struthers, Archibald Tanner, N. B. Eldred, G. C. Irwin, G. A. 
Irvine, F. W. Brisrham. 




Pioneer railroad train in the United States 



McKean County, Solomon Sartwell, H. Payne, John King, Jonathan 
Colegrove, Asa Sartwell, Orlo J. Hamlin. 

Crawford County, Henry Shippen, David Dick, Stephen Barlow, Andrew 
Smith, Joseph Douglass, J. Stewart Riddle, David McFaddin. 

Venango County, Rowletten Power, Alexander McCalmont, James Kin- 
near, John Evans, James Thompson, Joseph M. Fox, Christian Myers, David 
Phipp, Myran Parks, William Raymond, Arnold Plumer, Andrew Bowman, 
John W. Howe. 

Tioga County, Benjamin B. Smith, Robert G. White, Joseph W. Guern- 
sey, Josiah Emery, Samuel Dickinson, Samuel W. Morris. 

Potter County, Timothy Ives, John H. Rose, Charles Leyman. 

Mercer County, John Findley, Benjamin Stokely, Bevan Pearson, John 
Hoge, William Maxwell, Samuel Thompson, William F. Clark, James Bredin, 
Joseph Smith, David T. Porter, Robert Stewart, Abraham Pell, Samuel 
Holstein, John Ferker, James McKean, Joseph T. Boyd, John Fisher, Robert 
W. Stuart, Ezekiel Sankey, Thomas Wilson, and Daniel Means. 

In this act it is said, " or any three of them, be,, and they are hereby 
appointed commissioners to do and perform the several things hereinafter 
mentioned, that is to say, they shall, on or before the first day of November 
next, procure books, one of which shall be opened at Northumberland, Sun- 

693 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

bury, Milton, Williamsport, Warren, Wellsborough, Clearfield, Meadville, 
Erie, Franklin, Harrisburg, Bellefonte, in the city of Philadelphia." 

Shares of stoek to be one hundred dollars each. 

The stock necessary to secure the charter was taken by the United States 
Bank. Nicholas Biddle, of Philadelphia, was the pioneer president, from 
1837 to 1840; Daniel L. Miller, 1851-52. In 1856 Samuel V. Merrick was 
elected. During the years 1838 and 1839 Edward Miller, the pioneer chief 
engineer, made exploratory surveys of the different routes suggested, and on 
March 1, 1840, made a full report to the board of directors, recommending 
a route two hundred and eighty-six and one-half miles long. In 1838 the time 
was extended by the Legislature to 1840 for commencement of work. It 
might be well to state here that the road originally, in 1835, was designed to 
pass by way of West Branch, Clarion River, and Franklin, in Venango County. 
The pioneer cars for the Western division were built in Erie. 

The only town of importance between the two charter points was Wil- 
liamsport. Clinton, Cameron, and Elk Counties had not been created. War- 
ren was a small village sustained by lumber-mills and camps, but Erie had 
great business prominence at that time on account of her canals and pros- 
pective extensions. As a city she had an international fame. It was on her 
lake that Commodore Perry, in 181 3, wiped a whole English fleet from the 
waters of the earth, — the first time such a thing had been done. We whipped 
England on the ocean in 1776 and in 1812, and now she has for fifty years 
been trying, annually, to outsail us for a silver cup, and cannot win. The 
United States has never been defeated on land or sea. American manhood 
triumphs on land and waters. " Don't give up the ship !" was the cry. And 
the same American manhood was behind this railroad in the northwest, for 
thirty years, with the cry, " Don't give up the road !" and it won, as we 
Americans always have won, in war as well as in industrial and commercial 
enterprise. 

In the speculative times of 1836 non-residents of this wilderness bought 
largely of the wild lands along the route, which, of course, when railroad and 
other bubbles burst, was left on their hands. This land had been advertised to 
contain valuable iron ore and bituminous coal, and much of it could have been 
bought as late as 185 1 at fifty cents an acre. 

To build a railroad through a dense wilderness of worthless hemlock, 
ferocious beasts, gnats, and wintergreen berries, required a large purse and 
great courage. Of course, there was no subject talked about in the cabin 
homes of that locality so dear to the hearts of the pioneers as this railroad. 
Living, as they were, in the backwoods, they were perfectly excusable when 
the subject of railroads was broached, even if they did cut all kinds of fan- 
tastic tricks at celebrations and meetings. 

The first railroad meeting held in Ridgway, Elk County, was in the fall 
of 1845. Gentlemen were present from Erie, Warren, McKean, Centre, Phila- 

694 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

delphia, and other counties. The deliberations were held in the old school- 
house, and there the road was constructed in words, as it was all through the 
seasons for years afterward. 

In any event, I suppose those railroad barons enjoyed themselves in 
Ridgway, and were fed on elk-steak for breakfast, blackberry-pie for dinner, 
speckled trout and bear meat for supper, with nothing stronger to drink than 
sassafras tea. This generous diet, in sleep at least, would build railroads. 

In 1837 there was not a cabin on the line of this proposed road from 
Shippen (Emporium) to Ridgway, and but one at Johnsonburg from Ridg- 
way to Tionesta Creek. 

The company commenced grading the railroad from Erie to Warren in 
1852, and the pioneer regular passenger- train ran from Erie to Warren De- 
cember 21, 1859. A great celebration took place in Warren in honor of this 
event. The pioneer superintendent of the Western division at this time was 
S. A. Black, whose office was at Erie. The pioneer through regular train 
from the East was October 4, 1864. 

I do not know that it is material to give the trials, failures, and hardships 
in raising money for the work. They were overcome, and that is sufficient. 
On March 7, 1861, the name was changed, by an act of Legislature, to the 
Philadelphia and Erie. 

On April 23, 1861, an act was approved by the governor authorizing rail- 
road companies to lease and operate other roads ; and under this law the Phila- 
delphia and Erie leased to the Pennsylvania for a term of nine hundred and 
ninety-nine years from January, 1862, the Pennsylvania to pay a rental of 
thirty per cent, on all gross earnings. At the close of 1859 one hundred and 
fifty-eight miles had been completed ; and on the balance of the line, one hun- 
dred and forty miles, the grading and bridging were well along to completion. 
February 1, 1862, the Pennsylvania assumed control, and the management 
applied the same business habits, probity, and skill to the road that these 
officials have always exhibited. Joseph D. Potts was appointed general man- • 
ager, and under his regime, on January 1, 1864, one hundred and sixty- four 
miles of track, from Sunbury to St. Marys, was laid, as also from Erie to 
Wilcox. The road was opened for business successively at the following 
points, — viz., May 2, 1864, Emporium to St. Marys ; May 23, Sheffield to 
Kane; July 6, Kane to Wilcox; October 17, Wilcox to St. Marys; and clear 
through, October 19, 1864. 

For some of these dates I am indebted to local histories. I lived in Ridg- 
way a number of years while this road was in agitation and construction. My 
medical practice extended all over the county from March, 1859, to the sum- 
mer of 1863. I might say here that the original route was from Driftwood to 
where Du Bois now is, from there through Brockwayville to the Clarion 
River, and up Spring Creek to Warren ; but Philadelphia land-owners in Elk 
County forced the road from its natural channel. 

695 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

ALLEGHENY VALLEY RAILROAD — ACT TO INCORPORATE, INCORPORATORS, STOCK, 
ROUTES SURVEYED, CONSTRUCTION, FIRST SCHEDULE, PRESIDENT OF THE 
ROAD 

An Act for the incorporation of the " Pittsburg, Kittanning, and Warren 
Railroad Company" was passed April 4, 1837, and approved by Governor 
Joseph Ritner, which reads, in part, as follows : 

" Section i. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in General Assembly met, and it is 
hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That Benjamin Darlington, 
Samuel Baird, Isaac Harris, John P. Bakewell, James Ross, Harmar Denny, 
Francis Kearns, William Robinson, Jr., Robert H. Douthell, George Ogden, 
George R. White, James Gray, Fourth Street; John Morrison, Samuel B. 
McKinzey, and John Shoenberger, of the County of Allegheny; Jacob 
Weaver, James Bole, Robert Lowry, William Coyle, James Green, Samuel 
Cooper, George Rip, John Michling, Robert Spars, Joseph Buffington, Alex- 
ander Colwell, Philip Michling, John Gilpin, David Reynolds, Robert Orr, 
Samuel Hutchison, Chambers Orr, James Waterson (Terry), William Tem- 
pleton, David Lawson, and Richard Reynolds, of the County of Armstrong; 
James Kinnear, George R. Espy, James R. Snowden, Alexander McCalmont, 
Arnold Plumer, John Evans, Andrew Beaument, Edward Pierce, and R. 
Power, of the County of Venango; Thomas Struthers, Josiah Hall, Robert 
Faulkner, Archibald Sanner, Nathaniel B. Eldred, Guy C. Irvine, Galbraith 
A. Irvine, Thomas Martin, William A. Irvine, Lansing Wetmore, S. J. John- 
son, Abraham Hazelton, Henry Sargent, John King, Walter W. Hoges, and 
F. W. Brigham, of the county of Warren, are hereby appointed commissioners, 
and they, or any ten of them, are authorized to open books, at such times and 
places, and upon such notice as they may deem expedient, for the purpose of 
receiving subscriptions to the capital stock of the company hereinafter directed 
to be incorporated, and if any of said commissioners shall resign, neglect to 
act, be absent, or become legally incapacitated to act, during the continuance 
of the duties devolved upon them by this act, others may be appointed in their 
stead, by a majority of the persons named in this act." 

Capital stock to be two million dollars, in shares of fifty dollars each. . 

Several routes were surveyed, — one through Brookville, up the North 
Fork to the Clarion River, and one up the Mahoning to Punxsutawney, 
through Reynoldsville, Warren, and Olean. These routes were found to be 
expensive on account of the tunnels, and were abandoned, and the route along 
the Allegheny River chosen. I here quote Wilson's History: 

" In 1847 the time for beginning construction was extended to 1852, and 
in 185 1 again extended to 1855. On the. 12th of February, 1852, the company 
was organized. On April 14, 1852, the name was changed to the Allegheny 
Valley Railroad Company. Ground was formally broken March 18, 1853, 
at Pittsburg, and on May 1 the contractors began work, persevering in the 

696 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

face of many obstacles until January 30, 1856, when Kittanning was reached 
and the road opened for operation. Further progress was suspended for 
some time on account of financial stringency, but the road was operated be- 
tween Pittsburg and Kittanning with more or less success. In July, i860, 
the road's schedule showed an express train leaving Kittanning at 5.30 a.m., 
and arriving at Pittsburg, a distance of forty-five miles, at 8.30 a.m. Also a 
mail-train leaving at 3.30 p.m., making its run to Pittsburg in two hours and 
forty minutes. An express train left Pittsburg at four p.m. and arrived at 
Kittanning at 6.50 p.m., and a mail-train at seven a.m. from Pittsburg, 
arriving at Kittanning at 9.50 a.m." 

FIRST OFFICIAL SCHEDULE FOR BUSINESS 

ALLEGHENY VALLEY RAILROAD. 

THE Allegheny Valley Rail Road is now open and in 

-*■ operation between 

Pittsburg and Crooked Creek, within four miles of Kittaning. 

NOTICE. 
AN and after Tuesday, December nth, Trains for Passengers 
^ and Freight will leave Lawrenceville Station (upper wall 
of Arsenal,) 

Regularly every Evening at 3 o'clock, 
(Sundays Excepted.) 
and stop at the following Stations, viz : Sharpsburg, Leland's, 
Sandy Creek, Verner, Hulton, Logan's Eddy, Logan's Ferry, 
Parnassus, Arnold, Tarentum, Chartier's, M'Cain's, Freeport, 
Kiskiminetas, White Rock Eddy, Kelly's, T. Logan's and 
Crooked Creek. 

RETURNING, will leave Crooked Creek at 8 o'clock. 
A. M., and stop at all the above intermediate Stations. 

The Company is prepared to receive and deliver freight for 
any of the above stations, at their freight depot, corner of Penn 
and Wayne streets, Pittsburg. 

TICKETS can be had at the Company's Office, corner of 
Penn and Wayne streets, or from the Conductor. 
THE EXCELSIOR OMNIBUS LINE 
Will leave the corner of Market and Fifth Sts., in con- 
nection with the Cars, at 2 o'clock P. M. 

NEW CONNECTIONS. — Stages will leave Crooked 
Creek, on the arrival of the trains, for Kittanning, Catfish, 
Curlsville, Middlesex, Red Bank, Clarion, Brady's Bend, 
Reimersburg, Brookville, Smicksburg and Punxsutawney. 
Fare to Kittanning, $1.25. 

A. H. HOPPER, 
Dec. 22, 1855. — tf. Superintendent. 

" The road was opened and operated to Kittanning January 30, 1856 ; to 
Mahoning in 1866; to Brady's Bend, June 27, 1867; and to Oil City, Feb- 
ruary 2, 1870. Parlor cars used June 15, 1879. 

697 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" The Oil City Derrick, in its issue of February 12, 1896, in a sketch of 
the road, said, — 

' While it serves a large number of manufacturers, carrying to and from 
them a great variety of products, the road transports also a very heavy tonnage 
of minerals, mainly coal, of which it moves about two million tons per annum. 
This tonnage goes mainly to Pittsburg, Buffalo, and points in New York 
State and Canada. The favorable grades that characterize both of its divisions 
enable the road to move freight at a minimum cost. Between Pittsburg and 
Oil City the grade is practically that of the river bed itself, which rises at the 
rate of about two feet per mile. The Low Grade division, although it crosses 
the main ridge of the Alleghenies, has a remarkably gentle descent. The 
average rise per mile from Red Bank to the summit of the mountains, going 
eastward, is only sixteen feet, while coming westward the average rise per 
mile from Driftwood to the summit is about the same. The connections of 
the Allegheny Valley Railway are as follows : 

" ' At Pittsburg, in the Union Station, it comes in close touch with the 
vast Pennsylvania system east and west of that city. It has also at Eleventh 
Street a connection with the Pennsylvania lines west of Pittsburg, enabling 
it to exchange freight with these lines without using the tracks at the Union 
Station. At West Penn Junction, twenty-eight miles north of Pittsburg, it 
connects with the West Penn division of the Pennsylvania Railroad ; at Fox- 
burg with the Pittsburg and Western Railway, and at Oil City with the New 
York, Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad, Lake Shore and Michigan Southern 
Railway, and the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railway, which latter 
line forms its through route to Buffalo. At Falls Creek, on the Low Grade 
division, it connects with the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburg and Ridgway 
and Clearfield Railways, and at Driftwood it joins the Philadelphia and Erie 
Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad.' 

" The Presidents of the road have been Governor William F. Johnston, 
in 1859; F- R - Bruno, i860; R. F. Morley, 1861 ; T J. Brereton, 1862; F. R. 
Bruno, 1863-64; who was succeeded by Colonel William Phillips, who was 
in turn succeeded in 1874 by John Scott, who continued in the presidency until 
his death, March 23, 1889. Mr. Henry D. Welsh succeeded him as president, 
and served until the reorganization of the company in 1892." 

LOW GRADE CHARTER EXTENT OF ROAD GRADIENTS GRADING COMMENCED 

LINE OPENED PIONEER WRECK — -SURGICAL OPERATION GENERAL 

OFFICES 

This road was constructed under the charter granted to the Pittsburg, 
Kittanning, and Warren Railroad Company, which was subsequently changed 
to the Allegheny Valley Railroad Company, and the supplemental acts which 
became a part of the charter of the last-named company. 

This division extends from Red Bank to Driftwood, a distance of one 

6gS 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

hundred and ten miles, crosses the main ridge of the Allegheny Mountains at 
a point just east of the Sabula Station, the Summit tunnel being nineteen hun- 
dred and twenty-six feet in length, and the height above the sea fourteen hun- 
dred and sixty-six feet. This tunnel is one hundred and thirty-four miles from 
Pittsburg, and thirty-nine miles west from Driftwood. Spencer Mead super- 
intended the tunnel work. 

The project lay dormant from 1837 till in the sixties, when J. Edgar 
Thompson commenced the agitation and brought about the construction of 
the road. He was then president of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. 

This road extends from the Allegheny River, through the counties of 
Clarion, Jefferson, Clearfield, and Elk, to the Pittsburg and Erie at Driftwood. 
It is familiarly called the Low Grade Road, as it is the natural route for a 
road from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi Valley. It has a maximum 
grade of only forty-eight feet to the mile, and that for a very short distance, 
while every other road between the east and the west has gradients approxi- 
mately one hundred feet to the mile. It was encouraged, aided, and guaranteed 
by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company for the purpose of facilitating freight 
traffic between the east and west. The report of that company for 1869 says, — 

" This line is designed chiefly for the transportation of freight at a slow 
speed, with a view to cheapen its cost so as to compete with the water lines 
leading to New York. The intention is to extend this line to the Mississippi 
River, across the tablelands of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and thus afford a 
medium of transportation at all seasons of the year as cheap and more expedi- 
tious than via the Lakes and Erie Canal." 

Grading began on the Low Grade in 1872. The road was opened for 
passenger service to New Bethlehem, a distance of twenty-one miles, May 
6, 1873; from New Bethlehem to Brookville, June 23, 1873, twenty-one 
miles ; from Brookville to Reynoldsville, fifteen miles, on November 5, 1873. 
On the eastern end a section from Driftwood to Barrs, nineteen miles, was 
opened on August 4, 1873. And on May 4, 1874, the entire line was open 
from Driftwood to Red Bank. 

The pioneer wreck on the Low Grade road occurred near Iowa Mills on 
November 16, 1873. While going around a curve at high speed the engine 
struck a stone, causing the whole gravel train to jump the track. John Mc- 
Hugh, the brakeman, was thrown in the air, and when the other employees 
found him he was lying under the wreck, his left arm terribly mangled, a 
deep cut in his head, severing an artery, and an ugly gash on the back of his 
head. McHugh was taken to Reynoldsville, where Dr. W. J. McKnight, in 
the brick tavern, assisted by Dr. B. Sweeney, amputated the arm and dressed 
his wounds. This was the pioneer major surgical operation on the Low 
Grade division and in what is now Reynoldsville. 

The general offices were moved from Brookville to Reynoldsville in 

1885. 

699 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

On August i, 1900, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company leased the entire 
Allegheny Valley Railway for twenty years. Charles Corbet, Esq., of Brook- 
ville, Pennsylvania, has been attorney for this road for the past thirty-one 
years, and is now the legal representative of the Pennsylvania system in its 
thirty-fifth district. 

MILEAGE OF ROADS OWNED AND OPERATED BY THE PENNSYLVANIA SYSTEM IN 
NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

DIVISION. BRANCH AND R. R. CO. COUNTIES. MILES. 

West Penn Butler Branch, P. R. R Butler 18.4 

West Penn Winfield Branch, P. R. R Butler 2.0 

Buffalo Main Line, W. N. Y. and P. Ry Cameron, Potter, McKean 41.3 

Buffalo McKean and Buffalo R. R McKean 22.3 

Chautauqua Main Line, \V. N. Y. and P. Ry Venango, Crawford 37.5 

Chautauqua Lakeville Branch, W. N. Y. and P. Ry Crawford 8.5 

Chautauqua Pioneer Branch, W. N. Y. and P. Ry Crawford, Venango 8.9 

Chautauqua Oil City to Irvineton, W. N. V. and P. Ry Venango, Forrest, Warren 50.2 

Chautauqua Warren to State Line, W. X. Y. and P. Ry Warren 21.7 

Chautauqua Kinzua Ry Warren, McKean 14.0 

Chautauqua Bradford Ry McKean 2.5 

Chautauqua Kinzua Valley R. R McKean 10.0 

Chautauqua Olean, Bradford and Warren Ry McKean 2.3 

River Allegheny Valley Ry Clarion, Venango 69.0 

Low Grade Allegheny Valley Ry Cameron, Elk. Jefferson, Clarion S9.4 

Low Grade Sligo Branch, A. V. Ry Clarion 10.2 

Low Grade Brookville Branch, A. V. Ry Jefferson 1.4 

Middle. P. and E Phila. and Erie R. R Cameron. Elk. McKean 79.S 

Middle, P. and E Johnsonburg R. R Elk, McKean 19.7 

Middle, P. and E Ridgway and Clearfield Ry Elk, Jefferson 27.1 

Western. P. and E Phila. and Erie R. R Warren, McKean 56.S 

Total 593-0 

Western P. and E. R. R Erie 36.6 

Chautauqua W. N. Y. and P: Ry. Main Line Erie 12.9 

Total (including Erie County) 642.5 

THE PITTSBURG, SUMMERVILLE AND CLARION RAILROAD COMPANY CHARTER 

MEMBERS AND ORGANIZERS LENGTH OF LINE CHARLES F. HEIDRICK, 

ORGANIZER, BUILDER, AND PRESIDENT OF THE ROAD INDUSTRIES, ETC. 

For twenty years or more a railroad from Summerville, Jefferson County, 
Pennsylvania, to Clarion, Clarion County, Pennsylvania, has been agitated and 
contemplated. A survey with this in view was made about 1895, and a few 
years later the Allegheny Valley Railway made an examination along the 
route with the view of building a road. In 1900 Pittsburg, Beaver Falls, and 
Clarion gentlemen secured a charter and organized under the name of the 
Clarion, Summerville, and Pittsburg Railroad Company. This company made 
a permanent survey, adopted a route, secured considerable right of way, graded 
a little on the line, when the president of the company died. Internal dissen- 
sions followed the death of the president, which resulted in the abandonment 
of the project. In the -fall of 1902 Charles F. Heidrick, a young business man 
of Brookville, Pennsylvania, conceived the idea of pushing this abandoned 
project to completion. In September, 1903, he purchased from the Clarion, 
Summerville and Pittsburg Railroad Company their survey, rights of way. 

700 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

and other assets, and in October, 1903, he let the contract for the construction 
of the road from Summerville to Clarion to Colonel James A. Bennett, of 
Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and Daniel Nolan, of Reynoldsville, Pennsylvania. 
The road was completed and opened for traffic August 27, 1904. 

The charter members and organizers of the present Pittsburg, Summer- 
ville and Clarion Railroad are, to wit, Charles F. Heidrick, John Q. Heidrick, 
Emmett R. Heidrick, M. I. McCreight, C. H. Cole, A. L. Cole, Theo. L. Wil- 
son, Charles Corbet, R. M. Matson, and Alfred Truman. The officers of the 
company are as follows: Charles F. Heidrick, president; A. L. Cole, secre- 
tary ; John 0. Heidrick, treasurer ; the board of directors consists of Charles 
F. Heidrickjohn Q. Heidrick, M. I. McCreight, A. L. Cole, Theo. L. Wilson, 
R. M. Matson, and J. A. Haven. 

The main line of the road is about sixteen miles long; one mile south 
of Corsica, and two and one-half miles north of Greenville to Strattonville, 
and thence to Clarion Borough. A branch from the main line extends from 
Strattonville up along the Clarion River to the mouth of Mill Creek, where a 
large lumber plant is operated. The road along its entire line taps a large field 
of undeveloped coal. This coal is now being gradually opened up. The road 
was a paying proposition from the start. 

THE BUFFALO, ROCHESTER AND PITTSBURG RAILWAY COMPANY WHEN IN- 
CEPTED OFFICERS CHARTERED ROUTES PROPOSALS FOR WORK TRIALS 

EXTENSIONS CAR SERVICE PULLMAN CARS COMPLETED TO PUNXSU- 

TAWNEY THE FIRST THROUGH TRAIN TRANSPORTATION OF COAL PRES- 
ENT OFFICERS 

To my personal knowledge, agitation by the people and the newspapers for 
this railway commenced as early as 1854. But the first official organization of 
anything approaching the present road I find in a Rochester newspaper of June 
12, 1869, speaking of the directors of the contemplated Rochester and State 
Line Railroad Company holding a meeting in that city, — viz., president of the 
road, Isaac Butts, Rochester, New York ; vice-president, Oliver Allen, Wheat- 
land, New York; secretary and treasurer, G. E. Mumford, Rochester, New 
York; executive committee, G. J. Whitney, Rochester, New York; M. C. 
Reynolds, Rochester, New York ; James Wycoff , Perry, New York ; directors, 
Isaac Butts, Rochester, New York; G. J. Whitney, Rochester, New York; 
Patrick Barry, Rochester, New York ; S. M. Spencer, Rochester, New York ; 
M. F. Reynolds, Rochester, New York ; Geo. E. Mumford, Rochester, New 
York; Oliver Allen, Wheatland, New York; James Wycoff, Perry, New 
York ; John A. Thompson, Castile, New York ; Miles Dodge, Wiscoy ; Luke 
R. Hutchcock. Canedea ; John S. Lee, Wellsville. 

The contemplated line was from Rochester to Perry or to Salamanca, 
but on December 7 of that year the board of directors decided on a western 
route running through LeRoy, Bliss, Machias, and Salamanca. The line, 

701 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

originally, was to run through Salamanca, Carrollton, LaFayette, McKean 
County, Ridgway, Brookville, Red Bank, and Kittanning to Pittsburg. This 
route was very likely located in the sixties. 

Through the courtesy of George E. Merchant, late superintendent of 
the road, I have been shown an extended " map and profile of railroads 
proposed and under contract connecting Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and Roches- 
ter, New York, (of) February 4, 1854, by McRee Swift, chief engineer, and 
E. Everett, principal assistant engineer, R. and P. R. R." 

The proposed route for the road by this map in the State of Pennsylvania 
passed through Smethport, Bishop's Summit, Johnsonburg, Richardsville, 
Brookville, down the Red Bank, through Kittanning, and into Pittsburg. 

A change of route was made, however, by Walston H. Brown, in 1882, 
from the mouth of the Little Toby up the stream to Du Bois, Punxsutawney, 
and down the Mahoning to Allegheny, Pennsylvania. This change was 
brought about by the occupancy of the route from Little Toby to Brookville 
by a survey and right of way obtained by the Clarion and Mahoning road, 
which, to say the least, was simply a bubble and an obstruction. 

The pioneer notice published for work by the directors was as follows : 

" Proposals for the work of grading and masonry required in the con- 
struction of the Rochester and State Line Railway, between the city of Roch- 
ester and the village of Salamanca, Cataraugus County, about one hundred 
miles, will be received at the office of the company in the city of Rochester, 
until and including the 25th day of July, 1872. Profile, specifications, and 
estimated quantities of work to be done will be ready for inspection on and 
after the 18th day of July, 1872. 

(Signed) " D. McNaughton, 

Secretary. 
C. S. Masten, 
" Rochester, New York, July 9, 1872." Chie f Engineer. 

Tuesday, October 7, 1873, track-laying was commenced, the pioneer rail 
being laid at Rochester on that day. 

The pioneer schedule issued by the railroad was as follows : 

" ROCHESTER AND STATE LINE RAILROAD. 

''On and after September 15, 1874, and until further notice, trains on 
this road will run as follows : 

"Leave LeRoy 8.40 a.m.; arrive Rochester 10.10 a.m.; leave Rochester 
6.10 p.m.; arrive LeRoy 7.40 p.m. 

(Signed) " M. F. Reynolds, 

President. 
C. S. Masten, 

Chief Engineer." 
702 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

August 6, 1877, the line was completed to Warsaw, forty-four miles, and 
on September 18 of the same year, to Gainsville, fifty-four miles from Roch- 
ester. 

The road was finished to Salamanca and opened for regular and through 
freight and passenger business on May 16, 1878. 

In July, 1879, tne majority of the stock was owned by William H. 
Vanderbilt, and the road was practically controlled by him until that year. 
At that time suits were brought against the railroad company by the city of 
Rochester to recover six hundred thousand dollars which had been con- 
tributed toward the construction of the road. The suits were decided against 
the city and in favor of the company. Mr. Vanderbilt then dropped out 
of the management, and the road was unable to pay the interest on the first 
mortgage, which fell due on January 1, 1880, when the road was sold and a 
receiver appointed June 7, 1880. It was sold under foreclosure January 8 ; 
1881. Mr. Walston H. Brown, of New York city, purchased control and 
reorganized it under the name of " Rochester and Pittsburg Railroad." Mr. 
Brown associated with himself an active, able and efficient manager, — to wit, 
George E. Merchant. Mr. Merchant has been identified with the road ever 
since that time, and was the general superintendent, managing its great 
interests with rare tact and skill. 

The pioneer officers of this reorganization were as follows, — viz., presi- 
dent, Walston H. Brown, of New York; treasurer, F. A. Brown, of New 
York; secretary, Thos. F. Wentworth, of New York; general manager, 
George E. Merchant, Rochester, New York; chief engineer, William E. 
Hoyt ; counsel, C. H. McCauley, Ridgway, Pennsylvania. 

" In 1881 three companies were organized in New York in the interest 
of the Rochester and Pittsburg, — namely, the Rochester and Charlotte, to 
build from Rochester to Charlotte on Lake Ontario ; the Buffalo, Rochester 
and Pittsburg, to build from Buffalo to Ashford, on the main line; and the 
Great Valley and Bradford, to build from Great Valley to the Pennsylvania 
line. At the same time the Bradford and State Line and the Pittsburg and 
New York were organized in Pennsylvania to extend the road from State 
Line to Brookville, Pennsylvania. These several companies were consolidated 
into the Rochester and Pittsburg in 1882. In 1882 the road was completed 
from Bradford Junction, 1.33 miles north of Salamanca, New York, south to 
Howard Junction, Pennsylvania, 21.09 miles; from Clarion Junction to Ridg- 
way, Pennsylvania, 9.08 miles ; from Du Bois to Falls Creek, Pennsylvania. 
2.09 miles ; a total of 32.26 miles of the Great Valley-Pittsburg' line in that 
year. On the Buffalo Division track was laid from Buffalo Creek to Ham- 
burg, 7.93 miles, and from Ashford to West Valley, 6.34 miles. In the follow- 
ing year, 1883, the road was completed by laying from Hamburg to West 
Valley, New York, 30.9 miles ; from Ridgway to Falls Creek, Pennsylvania, 
thirty miles; and from Du Bois to Walston Junction, Pennsylvania, 22.91 

703 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

miles. The Beech Tree and Walston Mines branches were also built in 
i88 3 . ( 

" An issue of ten million dollars stock, doubling the capital of the com- 
pany, was made in 1883, the new stock being used in cancelling an intended 
issue of three million two hundred thousand dollars income bonds of the 
Buffalo division and in purchasing the capital stocks of the Rochester and 
Pittsburg Coal and Iron Company and the Brockwayville and Punxsutawney 
Railroad Company, under the charter of which latter the road from Young 
Township to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, was built and opened September 
30, 1883. In the same year the company purchased the franchises and capital 
stock of the East Terminal Railroad Company of Buffalo, having the right to 
build from Howard Street in East Buffalo into the heart of the city. 

" In November, 1883, the directors authorized an issue of four million 
dollars second mortgage consolidated bonds, secured on the entire property 
of the company, the proceeds to be used in providing seven hundred thousand 
dollars worth of new equipment, in retiring six hundred thousand dollars 
second mortgage terminal bonds issued earlier in the same year, and in 
liquidating the floating debt. Of these, two million eight hundred thousand 
dollars were issued February 1, 1884, but one million one hundred and thirty- 
two thousand five hundred dollars only were taken, so that to meet pressing 
demands the company was forced to hypothecate the remainder, which was 
subsequently sold to cancel loans. Default was made in payment of the first 
coupon, due August, 1884, on these bonds, and the road was sold under fore- 
closure on October 17, 1885; it was bid in for one million one hundred 
thousand dollars by Adrian Iselin, representing the second mortgage bond- 
holders. 

"A plan of reorganization was agreed upon by Mr. Iselin and others, 
which called for the formation of two new companies, one to acquire the part 
of the road lying within the State of New York and the other the Pennsyl- 
vania portion, the two to be ultimately consolidated under the title of Buf- 
falo, Rochester and Pittsburg Railway Company, with a capital of six million 
dollars preferred and six million dollars common stock, the latter issue, in- 
cluding one million two hundred thousand dollars, representing the Pennsyl- 
vania section. The common stock was issued at the rate of one share for 
four in exchange for the stock of the company. The preferred was sub- 
scribed for at par and the proceeds used to pay off the second mortgage bonds 
and floating debt. 

" Under the terms of this plan the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburg 
Railway Company was organized in the State of New York, on October 24, 
1885, and acquired the property in that State. The Pittsburg and State Line 
Railroad Company was organized and acquired the property in Pennsylvania. 
In consequence of litigation attending the transfer of the property in Penn- 
sylvania, under which the portion of the road in that State was placed in the 

704 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

hands of a receiver on March 23, 1886, the final consolidation of the two cor- 
porations was not effected until March 11, 1887, when the receivership was 
dissolved." — Poors Manual. 

The extension of the line from Ashford to Buffalo was completed for 
freight about June 1, 1883, but regular passenger and mail trains were not 
run into Buffalo until June 15, 1883. Freight trains carrying coal, with a 
caboose attached for passengers, were run from Du Bois north about May 
1, 1883. Regular passenger and mail trains north from Du Bois were not 
run until June 16, 1883. The road was completed to Punxsutawney and 
through passenger trains were running, one to Buffalo and one from Buffalo 
to that point, September 1, 1883. 

About July 25, 1883, there were two passenger trains running on the 
Beechtree branch, one to and one from Beechtree. Coal was shipped from 
Beechtree July 1, 1883. 

An agreement was entered into on June 6, 1883, by George E. Mer- 
chant, of Rochester, and David McCargo, of Pittsburg, superintendents of 
their respective roads, that a night express should be added by a joint service 
of the two lines, — to wit, one from Rochester to Pittsburg, and vice versa, 
one from Pittsburg to Rochester, this service to contain a Pullman and day 
car on each line ; each road to exchange their sleepers at Falls Creek. The 
schedule for this service went into effect on the evening of December 23, 
1883, and on that evening the pioneer car of this service was so run. The con- 
ductor and engineer of the A^alley train was M. J. McEnteer and James 
Montgomery. The conductor and engineer on the Rochester I know not. 
The time-table for this joint service was as follows, — to wit, the north -bound 
train for Rochester, with sleeper, left Pittsburg at 8.20 p.m., passed through 
Brookville, a flag-station, at 1 a.m., arrived at Falls Creek at 2 a.m., where 
the north-bound cars were shifted to the Rochester road, and this train arrived 
at Rochester 7.30 a.m. The south-bound train from Rochester left Rochester 
about 8.20 p.m., and shifted their Pullman and day coach at Falls Creek to 
the Allegheny Valley road, which, returning, passed through Brookville, a 
flag-station, at 3.30 a.m., and arrived at Pittsburg at 7.50 a.m. 

"About four years ago the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburg entered into 
a traffic arrangement with the Pittsburg and Western for running trains into 
Pittsburg from Butler over the Pittsburg and Western tracks. This arrange- 
ment, of course, was continued when the Baltimore and Ohio secured the 
Pittsburg and Western. That agreement was made for twenty years, con- 
sequently it has still sixteen years to run." 

Surveys for the extension of the road from Punxsutawney to Allegheny 
City were made in the fall of 1894. The actual construction of the railroad 
did not begin until March, 1898. The track from Punxsutawney to the 
Allegheny River Bridge was finished in June, 1889. Track-laying com- 
menced at Butler in January, 1899. and was extended eastward to Mosgrove. 
45 705 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

The track was joined at Mosgrove Station in August, 1899, when the last 
spike, a silver one, was driven by Arthur G. Yates, president of the road. 

The first regular train through to Allegheny City was run September 4, 
1899, and regular through passenger service from Buffalo and Rochester to 
Allegheny began October 9, 1899. 

That the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburg is a good paying proposition 
needs no exploitation. Their coal territory and its productiveness in both 
coal and coke is shown in the average daily handling of one thousand cars 
of coal and two hundred cars of coke. The value is also shown in the 
numerous spurs that have been built into rich coal regions. The largest of 
these spurs is the twenty-eight mile extension to Ernest. From Ernest 
through Indiana County two lines are constructed, with a combined mileage 
of forty-two miles, one running to Slate Lick and the other to Elder's Ridge. 
The Slate Lick branch is operated from Indiana. Just outside of Ernest on 
the new line a tunnel is constructed. The tunnel and new branches are now 
completed. 

At Ernest a fine steel coal tipple has been built by the Rochester and 
Pittsburg Coal and Iron Company, which is the controlled subsidiary com- 
pany. The structural steel for the tipple alone cost fifty-five thousand dollars. 
The main locomotive works, at Du Bois, Pennsylvania, were opened No- 
vember 4, 1901. They have facilities for making heavy repairs on twenty 
locomotives per month. 

The traffic having reached the limit of economical operation on a single 
track, the construction of a second track was authorized. During the fall of 
1903 the middle division of the main line from Du Bois to East Salamanca, 
a distance of one hundred and twenty-eight miles, or over one-third of the 
total mileage, was double tracked. The Pittsburg division is laid on one- 
hundred-pound steel rails. 

The present officers of the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburg Railway 
Company are as follows : 

Arthur G. Yates, president, Rochester, New York; Adrian Iselin, Jr., 
vice-president, 36 Wall Street, New York ; John F. Dinkey, auditor and 
treasurer, Rochester, New York ; John H. Hocart, secretary and assistant 
treasurer, 36 Wall Street, New York ; W. T. Noonan, general superintendent, 
Rochester, New York; J. M. Floesch, chief engineer, Rochester, New York; 
Robert W. Davis, general freight agent, Rochester, New York; Edward C. 
Lapey, general passenger agent, Rochester, New York ; E. E. Davis, super- 
intendent of motive power, Du Bois City, Pennsylvania ; Perkins & Havens, 
counsel, Rochester, New York; C. H. McCauley, counsel, Ridgway, Penn- 
sylvania. George EAIerchant, ex-superintendent, has been twenty-five years 
in the service of the road, and is now not in active duty. 

Under this efficient board the management of the road has been prudent, 
bold, aggressive, potential, and successful, and has now a mileage of 557-69 
miles. 

706 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

OTHER COAL ROADS 

Paralleling the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburg Railway through Brock- 
wayville is the Ridgway and Clearfield road. It is part of the Pennsylvania 
system and was completed about October, 1884. 

The New York, Lake Erie and Western (branch) was extended into 
Jefferson County, via Crenshaw, about 1882. The coal freightage is and 
has been large over this road. 

The Reynoldsville and Falls Creek road, seven miles long, was finished 
by Bell, Lewis & Yates, in September, 1885. 

The pioneer steam railway in the world was opened in England in Sep- 
tember, 1825, and was called the Stockdale and Darlington Road. It was 
thirty-eight miles long. It is claimed that the Baltimore and Ohio is the 
pioneer steam railroad in the United States. It was built in 1830. In any 
event, seventy years later, onr railroads are the wonder of the world. 

In 1830 the railway mileage in the United States did not exceed sixty; 
to-day we have 182,746 miles, and the gross earnings of our railroads com- 
bined is over three million dollars per da)'. In 1830 we travelled at high 
speed, as railroad passengers, at six and ten miles per hour, but now we glide 
along at the rate of forty or sixty miles an hour as smoothly as our fathers 
did with their skates on ice or sleds on snow. To-day we telegraph around 
the world in nine minutes. What next? 

In 1850 we had only seven thousand three hundred miles of railway 
owned and operated by one hundred and fifty-one companies, and with a few 
exceptions each road was less than one hundred miles in length. The New 
York and Erie was the only " Trunk Line," with a mileage of three hundred 
and one miles. 

The amount of money now invested (1905) in railway property is about 
twelve thousand million dollars, and the number of employees are about twelve 
hundred thousand. 

PIONEER COAL-MINING IN JEFFERSON COUNTY 

The first stone coal discovered in America was by Father Henepin in 
what is now Illinois, on the Illinois River, in 1679. In 1684, William Penn 
granted the privilege to mine the coal at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. In 1728 
coal was discovered in Virginia. 

Anthracite coal is bituminous coal coked and condensed by nature. 

The first record of bituminous coal-mining is at New Castle, England. 
This coal was on the market in 1281. Stone coal was first mined and used in 
Western Pennsylvania near where Pittsburg now is, by Colonel James Burd, 
in 1759. It was dug from the hills of the Monongahela. In 1807 stone coal 
was mined in central Pennsylvania and sold as a fertilizer. I quote the fol- 
lowing notice from the Bedford Gazette of June, 1807, — viz. : 

707 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" Huntington. June 4. 
"' Stone Coal. — Such of the farmers as wish to make experiment with 
stone coal as a substitute for plaster, in manuring their Indian corn, may be 
supplied with coal gratis upon application to Peter Hughes, at Mr. Riddle*s 
mines, on the Raystown Branch. The proprietor of the mines offers not only 
to refund the carriage, but to pay the expenses of applying the coal, if upon 
a fair experiment it is found to be inferior to plaster, which now sells at two 
dollars per bushel." 

The pioneers to dig coal in Northwestern Pennsylvania were mostly 
blacksmiths. Previous to the discovery of coal in this wilderness, the black- 
smiths burned their own charcoal, and used it for fuel ; but it appears they 
early searched the runs with bags for coal, and picked up loose pieces, and 
occasionally stripped the earth and dug bags full of what they called " stone 
coal.' - They burned this in their fires, either alone or with charcoal. 

"' In 1784, the year in which Pittsburg was surveyed into building lots, 
the privilege of mining coal in the ' great seam' opposite that town was sold 
by the Penns at the rate of thirty pounds for each mining lot, extending back 
to the centre of the hill. This event may be regarded as forming the begin- 
ning of the coal trade of Pittsburg. The supply of the towns and cities on the 
Ohio and Mississippi Rivers with Pittsburg coal became an established busi- 
ness at an early day in the present century or in 1800. Pittsburg coal was 
known long before the town became noted as an iron centre. 

" Down to 1845 all the coal shipped westward from Pittsburg was floated 
down the Ohio in flat-bottomed boats in the spring and fall freshets, each 
boat holding about fifteen thousand bushels of coal. The boats were usually 
lashed in pairs, and were sold and broken up when their destination was 
reached. In 1845 steam tow-boats were introduced, which took coal-barges 
down the river and brought them back empty." 

The first carload of bituminous coal hauled east of the Alleghenies came 
from the Westmoreland Company's " Shade Grove" mine, or what was later 
called the northside colliery in Irwin. The mine was opened in 1852 by Cole- 
man, Hillman & Co. 

The coal was taken out of the mine and hauled to the platform of the 
freight station and loaded into an eighteen-thousand-pound box car, the 
standard of those days. It was sent forward as one of about twelve cars 
of like capacity, hauled by a wood-burning locomotive at about six miles 
an hour, with Philadelphia as its destination. 

The first person to mine coal in Jefferson County for manufacturing 
purposes was JohiiJFuller. 

He was the first person to mine coal in what is now Winslow Township, 
or, probably, in Jefferson County. He mined for his own use a few bag- 
fuls occasionally from the bed of the creek near to and above the bridge on 

70S 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

the pike, in what is now Reynoldsville. He hauled his first coal in a pung 
to his shop with an ox and a cow. 

In what year Mr. Fuller first picked from the bed of the creek his little 
load of what was then and in my boyhood days called stone coal is not pre- 
cisely known, but of course it was shortly after his settlement, probably in 
1825. 

The first person to mine coal in the county for general use was a colored 
man named Charles Anderson. He lived in Brookville, and was called " Yel- 
low Charley/' He was the first to operate, lease, mine, transport, and sell 
coal. He opened his pioneer mine about 1832, on the Joseph Clement's farm, 
north of and close to Brookville. The vein he exposed was about two feet 
thick. He stripped the earth from the top of the vein, dug the coal fine and 
transported it to Brookville in a little rickety one-horse wagon, retailing the 
stone coal at family doors in quantities of a peck, half-bushel, and bushel. 
The price per bushel was twelve and one-half cents, or " eleven-penny-bit," 
and a " fippenny-bit" for half a bushel, and three cents a peck. It was burned 
in grates. I had a free pass on this coal line, and rode on it a great deal. To 
me it was a line of " speed, safety, and comfort." Anderson was a " Soft 
Coal King," a baron, a robber, a close corporationist, a capitalist, and a monop- 
olist. He managed his works generally so as to avoid strikes, etc. Yet he 
had to assume the role of a Pinkerton or a coal policeman at one time, for 
there was some litigation over the ownership of this coal-bank, and Charley 
took his old flint-lock musket one day and swore he would just as soon die 
in the coal-bank as any other place. He held the fort, too. 

Charley was a greatly abused man. Every theft and nearly all outlawry 
was blamed on him. Public sentiment and public clamor was against him. 
He tried at times to be good, attend church, etc., but it availed him nothing, 
for he would be so coldly received as to force him into his former condition. 
As the town grew, and other parties became engaged in mining coal, Charley 
changed his business to that of water-carrier, and hauled in his one-horse 
wagon washing and cooking water in barrels for the women of the town. He 
continued in this business until his death, which occurred in 1874. In early 
days he lived on the lot now owned by Dr. T. C. Lawson. He died in his own 
home near the new cemetery. 

John Dixon who is now (1903) living in Polk Township at the advanced 
age of ninety-five years, was one of the pioneer miners, and was born in the 
county. He mined on the present Rose Township poor farm from 1840 to 
1847. The pioneers to open and operate banks in Young Township, were 
Obed Morris and John Hutchison. Their first operations were about 1834 
or 1835. The sales were light, the coal being principally used for black- 
smithing purposes and for a few families who had grates. Coal was sold at 
the bank for ten cents a bushel, and every bushel was measured in a " bushel 
box." The mining was done by the families. The census of 1840 reports but 

709 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

two points in the county as mining and using coal, — viz., Brookville and Rose 
Township. The amount used in Rose Township a year was five hundred 
bushels, in Brookville, two thousand bushels. Jefferson County coal is now 
shipped to and used from Arctic ice to tropic sun. 

Woodward Reynolds commenced to mine coal for his own general use 
in the fall of 1838, and for about ten years he, John Fuller, and their neigh- 
bors, would mine what they wanted for their own use, paying no royalty 
for the coal whatever. A coal-miner then received ninety cents for a twelve- 
hour day. 

In the year 1849, about the time Woodward and Thomas Reynolds com- 
menced to mine coal in what is now Winslow Township, the whole output of 
bituminous coal in that year in the United States was only four million tons. 
In 1870 it was 36,806,560 tons; in 1880 it was 71,481,569 tons; in 1890 it 
was 157,770,963 tons. 

About the latter part of the year 1863, or the beginning of 1864, Hon. 
Joseph Henderson, Dr. W. J. McKnight, G. W. Andrews, Esq., I. C. Fuller, 
P. W. Jenks, and James A. Cathers, and possibly one or two others, organ- 
ized themselves into a company for the purpose of taking some measure 
toward bringing the coal lands and other resources of the county to the notice 
of capitalists who were seeking investments for their money. During the 
year 1864 geological surveys of the Brockwayville, Reynolds ville, and Punx- 
sutawney regions were made by J. P. Leslie, who has since made the geo- 
logical survey of the State, and the chemical analysis of the minerals were 
made by Dr. Guenth, the famous chemist of Philadelphia, after which an 
exhaustive report was submitted setting forth the advantages of the dis- 
trict. The expenses of this work, amounting to over three thousand dollars, 
were paid by the above-named gentlemen, who never realized anything 
from it. They, however, purchased some land during their transactions, 
and this was afterward disposed of at a profit, lessening their net outlay of 
money. 

In 1865 a number of English capitalists visited this country, and the 
above-mentioned report was laid before them through the officers of the 
Catawissa Railroad Company, as will be noticed in the following letter, 
and it had its influence in securing the building of a railroad through this 
section. The road spoken of in this letter was never built, but the Penn- 
sylvania Railroad Company, in order to head it off, was compelled to force 
the building of the Low Grade division of the Allegheny Valley road. The 
movement of the above gentlemen was, we believe, the first organized 
effort to bring this county into prominent notice as one of the richest parts 
of the State in mineral and lumber, and resulted in bringing about the 
development of the resources of the county which have followed. We 
therefore record this as a matter of history, to be handed down to future 
generations : 

710 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" Office Catawissa Railroad Company, 
424 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, December 16, 1865. 
" Messrs. W. J. McKnight, Joseph Henderson, G. W. Andrews, I. C. 
Fuller : 

" Gents, — I return you herewith the copy of Leslie's geological report, 
kindly loaned me for presentation before the English capitalists on their visit 
to this country. I feel that it had its influence among other things in deciding 
the question of building the new route through the counties lying between 
Milton and Franklin. 

" Several corps of engineers are already making surveys to ascertain the 
most practical route, and it will be pushed forward with energy and despatch, 
the capital necessary for the same having all been promised. This measure, 
of course, meets with the utmost hostility from the Pennsylvania Railroad, as 
it is opposed to monopoly, and it is to be worked upon the principle that rail- 
roads are built for the accommodation of the community — trade and travel 
to be allowed to go and come as the parties may wish. We feel that this 
portion of the State will not allow their interests to be crushed out by it. 

"' P. M. Hutchinson, 
"Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer." 
— Brookvillc Jeifersonian. 

It was not until April, 1874, that coal-mining for a foreign market began 
in Jefferson County. In that year the Diamond Mine was opened just north 
of Reynoldsville. The pioneer to ship coal by rail from that mine was H. S. 
Belnap. He hauled his coal in wagons to the Reynoldsville depot and there 
from a platform shovelled the coal into the cars, and it was shipped to Buffalo, 
New York. John Coax, Jr., Thomas Jenkins, and others were his team 
drivers. The second drift opened in Winslow Township was the Pancoast. 
The third was the Washington Mine, located near Pancoast flag-station. The 
fourth was the Hamilton Mine, and the fifth the Soldier Run Mine. Follow- 
ing these, the Sprague Mine was opened at Rathmel, and the Pleasant Valley 
Mine was opened east of Reynoldsville. The Hamilton and Pleasant Valley 
Mines were owned by the Hamilton Coal Company, and the Soldier Run and 
Sprague Mines were owned by Powers, Brown & Co. 

On June 25, 1890, Alfred Bell, George H. Lewis, and Arthur G. Yates, 
known as the firm of Bell, Lewis & Yates, bought out the interest of all these 
companies with considerable adjoining territory. Of this firm only Arthur 
G. Yates is now (1903) living, and he is president of the great coal road of 
this region, — to wit, the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburg Railway Company. 
Mr. Yates is an active, progressive man. His was the pioneer railroad to 
enter Jefferson County for the transportation of coal. Before the advent in 
1883 of Bell, Lewis & Yates, the shipment of coal from this county only 
amounted to a few thousand tons a year, but by September 1, 1883, the 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

Hamilton Mine employed one hundred and twenty-four men; the Sprague 
Mine, eighty-five men ; Powers, Brown & Co., one hundred and thirty men ; 
Pancoast Mine, thirty-six men ; Rochester Mines, four hundred and fifty 
men ; Falls Creek Mine, seventy men ; Hildrup, eighty-two ; Beechtree, one 
hundred and eighty-five ; and Walston, fifty-five men. 

I copy here from the Pittsburg Times of May 24, 1890, and as I was well 
acquainted with the Bells and these events, I have taken the liberty to correct 
what I quote. 

" Alfred Bell came to Jefferson County about 1856 from Nunda, New 
York. He was a dignified and stately man, precise in his methods, careful in 
his operations, and with Calvin Rogers he operated a large tract of timber land 
which they had bought east of Brookville. The Bell holdings extended for 
miles from Bell's mills, up and around what is now Falls Creek and Du Bois. 

" Frederick Bell came to Jefferson County about 1866, with his father, 
and the young man had his head-quarters in Brookville. A great deal of his 
leisure was spent in McKnight & Bro.'s drug-store. As the lumber business 
developed, he perceived the possibilities in the coal that underlay their vast 
acreage of land. When, in 1873, the Allegheny A r alley Railroad pushed up the 
Red Bank valley, Frederick A. Bell interested with him two congenial spirits, 
and not long after the firm of Bell, Lewis & Yates was formed, and it speedily 
became the foremost power in soft coal circles in the Buffalo and Rochester 
country. Lewis was a Canadian who married Bell's sister, while Yates was 
a practical coal merchant of Rochester. The firm commenced to mine and 
ship the splendid soft coal of Clearfield County in March, 1877, making its 
opening on the Young tract of seven hundred and forty acres, or what is called 
the Rochester Mine at Du Bois, for which they paid a royalty of ten cents per 
ton. The firm marketed its coal at that date by the Allegheny Valley and the 
Buffalo, New York and Pennsylvania roads. 

" Putting good coal in the market gave Bell, Lewis & Yates the easy 
control, and presently the firm had the largest docks on the lakes, and had 
created an export trade in soft coal, sending fully a third of its product to 
the international bridge at Black Rock for the Canadian trade. 

" Mr. Yates sold the coal, and put the New York Central, the Grand 
Trunk, and other important concerns on his list, and came home from his sell- 
. ing trip sometimes with single contracts for half a million tons. The firm 
grew and prospered and opened new mines and bought mines opened by 
others. But it was hampered by the lack of facilities for getting coal to mar- 
ket. By May, 1883, when the Rochester and Pittsburg road reached Du Bois, 
the company was ready to and did give it business, and later on when the 
Pennsylvania road, Ridgway and Clearfield, reached Falls Creek, Bell, Lewis 
& Yates afforded the roads an enormous traffic. New works were established, 
additional territory was secured, and one day Bell, Lewis & Yates commenced 
a tunnel and shaft at Sykesville, seven miles from Du Bois. 

712 




Arthur G. Yates, horn at Waverly, Tioga County. New York, December iS, 1S43 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" The firm had extended its operations to Reynoldsville, and the Sykes- 
ville tunnel was dug miles under ground that the Reynoldsville works could 
be connected with a proposed new opening, but above all else to afford drain- 
age to the system, for the coal dips toward Sykes. It was one of the most 
stupendous engineering feats in this region or in the coal world. The firm 
was now carrying coal in its own cars, and paying freight on a basis of 
wheel tallage with the roads. Meanwhile, the Rochester and Pittsburg Coal 
and Iron Company had been creating extensive mines, and developing great 
blocks of coal territory in Jefferson County, and in this corporation Bell, Lewis 
and Yates found a rival that was no mean competitor. In 1890 Bell, Lewis & 
Yates bought the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburg Railway Company, as well 
as the Coal and Iron Company. 

" In 1886 Clearfield and Jefferson Counties did not produce together 
five million tons of coal, but six years later they totalled more than ten million 
tons, and the bulk of the increase was that of the Bell, Lewis & Yates interests. 
Not only that, but a large proportion of the original product of 1886 was from 
its mines or those that finally came into its hands. In 1898 the product of the 
two counties climbed to almost twelve million, and the coke ovens of the 
affiliated interests made Jefferson the third coke-producing county in the 
State. 

" Later, in 1896, Bell, Lewis & Yates sold their coal properties and their 
railroad — to wit, the Reynoldsville and Falls Creek roads, the Buffalo, 
Rochester and Pittsburg Railway Company, and the Rochester and Pittsburg 
Coal and Iron Company — to Adrian Iselin, and this vast property is now in 
the hands of these corporations. 

" The superintendents of the Rochester and Pittsburg Coal and Iron 
Company have been Franklin Piatt, James McLeavey, J. A. Haskell, and, 
since 1890, L. W. Robinson. The present officers are, president and general 
manager, Lucius W. Robinson ; secretary, George L. Eaton ; treasurer, 
George H. Cune. 

" This Coal and Iron Company is now developing Indiana and Armstrong 
Counties with just the same energy that it developed Clearfield and Jefferson. 

" Frederick A. Bell was one of the three men who brought the great 
enterprises into life, but Arthur G. Yates practically made them what they are. 
He took interest in Du Bois when the town was a struggling lumber and 
mining town, and probably has had as much, if not more, to do with its 
perpetuity and importance than John Du Bois, whose name it bears, for Du 
Bois is more of a coal and railroad town than it is a lumber town. The pros- 
perity of Reynoldsville, Brockwayville, Punxsutawney, Big Run, Falls Creek, 
and the vast region that embraces a population of one hundred thousand in 
its sixty miles of coal lands, is a monument to the perception and business tact 
of Arthur G. Yates, who knew what the coal-deposits of Clearfield and Jeffer- 
son Counties would mean if they were opened for the markets. 

715 



HISTORY OF NORTHAVESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" Bell, Lewis & Yates owned the first of the gigantic concerns operating 
in this vicinity for soft coal. And in these days of great things, the Buffalo, 
Rochester and Pittsburg interests are still among the great institutions. Bell, 
Lewis & Yates were pioneers in the field, and they were highly successful. 

" Arthur G. Yates, now president of the Buffalo, Rochester and Pitts- 
burg Railway, was and is a wonderfully successful man, and he created a mar- 
ket for coal in northern New York such as never had been dreamed of. Really 
the firm commenced business at a time most opportune, for when its coal 
started for market the product of the McKean and Tioga fields was not of the 
best, while the excellent coal of Jefferson County has never been outclassed. 

" The Rochester and Pittsburg Coal and Iron Company operates mines 
that give employment to ten thousand operatives. New towns and villages 
have been built, and more in course of construction. 

" The first operations of the company were begun in Jefferson County 
about 1882 immediately after organization, the initial steps being the opening 
of the mines at Beechtree, Walston, and Adrian, followed by those at Elea- 
nora, Helvetia, Elk Run Shaft, and Florence. In 1896 it absorbed by pur- 
chase the extensive interests of the Bell, Lewis & Yates Company, at that 
time the largest operators in what are known as the Reynoldsville and Du 
Bois districts. The operations of the mines in these districts were subse- 
quently transferred to a corporation, organized in 1896, known as the Jeffer- 
son and Clearfield Coal and Iron Company, for which the Rochester and 
Pittsburg Coal and Iron Company became selling agents. The mines owned 
and operated by the Jefferson and Clearfield Coal and Iron Company are by 
name as follows : Soldier Run Mine, said to have the largest producing 
capacity of any single mine in this country, if not in the world, situated near 
Reynoldsville; the Maplewood, Sherwood, Virginia, Rochester, London, and 
Sandy Lick Mines, all situated near Reynoldsville, Du Bois, and Punxsu- 
tawney. The average daily output is twenty-five thousand tons, requiring 
a large number of trains and crews moving night and day to handle the 
product. 

" The production of coke by the Rochester and Pittsburg Coal and Iron 
Company is an important auxiliary to the mining industry. This is carried 
on extensively at Walston, Adrian, Eleanora, Reynoldsville, and Helvetia. 
The ovens are of the pattern known as beehive, of large capacity and modern 
construction. At Walston is said to be the longest continuous string of coke 
ovens in the world, its length being one and one-fourth miles, and containing 
in all four hundred and twenty-five ovens ; there is also a shorter bank of two 
hundred and seventy-five ovens, a total of seven hundred ovens. At Adrian 
there are four hundred and seventy-six ovens, at Eleanora two hundred and 
one, at Helvetia forty, and at Reynoldsville two hundred and sixty-one in 
operation and one hundred and fifty in course of construction. The daily out- 
put of coke is about two hundred cars. 

716 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" The output of the mines and the coke ovens finds a ready market in 
practically all parts of the world. Situated as they are on the line of the 
Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburg Railway Company, excellent shipping facili- 
ties are enjoyed. At Buffalo and Charlotte there are extensive docking facili- 
ties for the enormous lake tonnage while the rail shipment to the North, North- 
west, and New England points, via the valuable connections of the Buffalo, 
Rochester and Pittsburg, are very heavy. A large percentage of the tonnage 
of these mines is also moved East via Clearfield and over the Xew York Cen- 
tral Railroad (formerly the Beech Creek), and the Philadelphia and Reading 
Railway to the docks at Philadelphia and New York, from which shipments 
are made by water both north and south. The recent extension of the 
Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburg to Butler and New Castle gives a valuable 
Western outlet for the product. 

" The main offices of the Rochester and Pittsburg Coal and Iron Com- 
pany and the Jefferson and Clearfield Coal and Iron Company are at Rochester, 
while branch offices are maintained in charge of the sales agents of the former 
company at New York, Philadelphia, Buffalo, and all the larger cities." 

The first instance of the use of wooden rails and a car for the removal 
of coal from a mine was at New Castle upon Tyne, England, in 1675. The 
first introduction of that method of removal of coal in Jefferson County was 
by Jacob Meinweiser, on the Haugh farm, Union Township, in 1852. All 
miners previous to that date in this county used wheelbarrows. 

With some pride I state that the first trip across the ocean in six days and 
fifteen hours was made by steam from Beechtree coal, and that as a nation 
we have millions of square miles covered with forest trees and empires under- 
laid with coal. 

Coke was first used in Pennsylvania in 1835 in Huntingdon County : it 
was then used in a furnace. The first coke-works of any importance in the 
State were erected in i860. 

The pioneer coal strike in Jefferson County was on September 1, 1883. 
The men were out about six weeks. To maintain order forty or fifty Pin- 
kerton men were imported and kept on the ground. 

The bituminous coal output of the country has quadrupled since 1885. 
and it will only require a few years more until the demand in the United 
States will be a million tons for each day of the year. One-half of the nation's 
output is now used up by the railroads and steamships. The annual output 
of the Rochester and Pittsburg Coal and Iron Company and their associate 
companies is now six million tons a year, and it is safe to say this output will 
be doubled within a very short time. 

Coal is found in twenty-seven of our States and Territories. The bitumi- 
nous coal-field in Pennsylvania has an area of fifteen thousand square miles. 
The first shipment of coal from Pittsburg was made in 1803. The first ship- 
ment from Clearfield was in 1804, in barges to Columbia, Pennsylvania. 

717 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

The earliest authentic mention of coal in history is by Theophrastus, about 
two thousand two hundred years ago. An estimate was made in 1897, by emi- 
nent men, of the world's coal-producing territory, the sum total of which was 
found to be 563,150,000 square miles, distributed as follows, — to wit, United 
States east of the Rocky Mountains, 192,000; Canada, 65,000; India, 35,000; 
New South Wales, 24,000 ; Russia, 20,000 ; United Kingdom, 11,500; Spain, 
5500; Japan, 5000; France, 2080; Austria Hungary, 1790; Germany, 1770; 
Belgium, 510; China, 200,000. 

With our history of only one hundred and twenty-seven years, as a 
government, the United States leads the world in wealth, mining, and trans- 
portation. 

(From the Pittsburg Daily Post, Saturday, July 30, 1881.) 

" THE LATE JAMES L. GILLIS, THE PATRIARCH OF ELK COUNTY A MOST RE- 
MARKABLE CAREER SOLDIER, STATESMAN, JUDGE, AND LEADING CITIZEN 

HIS ARREST AND TRIAL FOR THE MURDER OF MORGAN — HIS STATEMENT 

ABOUT MORGAN HIS BLAMELESS LIFE 

" The death of Judge Gillis, at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, a few weeks ago, 
calls to mind the man, who he was, and the part he filled in his eventful life, 
most of which was spent in Pennsylvania. He was born in Washington 
Count)', New York, October 7, 1792, and was one of a large number of sons, 
all sturdy and hardy men. His father lived to a ripe old age and visited his 
sons, James and Enos, late in life, when they resided at Ridgway, Pennsyl- 
vania. A few years prior to the war of 1812 the family moved to Ontario 
County in the State of New York. There, in 1812, James enlisted in a 
company of New York volunteers, and was immediately commissioned a 
lieutenant of cavalry and assigned to a regiment commanded by one Colonel 
Harris, regular dragoons. He was in the battles of Fort George, Chippewa, 
and Lundy's Lane. Shortly after the latter battle he was taken prisoner by 
the British and confined at various places in Canada, and in 1814, while 
under parole, he was arrested and put on board a transport about to sail for 
England. Gillis and several others were successful in making their escape 
by capturing a boat belonging to the transport and gaining the bank of the 
St. Lawrence River opposite Quebec, at which place the vessel was lying. 
All were finally retaken. They wandered about for several days, wishing 
to reach the United States frontier, and made but little headway in that 
direction. Finally they made terms with a Canadian Frenchman, who prom- 
ised to guide them toward the boundary, but betrayed them ; the red-coats 
got them, returned them to confinement, and Lieutenant Gillis was not again 
permitted to escape. He remained in confinement till the close of the war, 
when he was exchanged at Salem, Mass. When Congress, about 1853, passed 
a law giving a bounty of one hundred and sixty acres of land to the soldiers 

718 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

of 1812, Judge Gillis had no trouble in proving his title to one. He con- 
sidered the certificate too sacred to part with, and for years kept it hanging 
in his house in a gilt frame, which was a luxury in the way of fine art that 
his neighbors generally could not indulge in. 

" IN THE WILDS OF PENNSYLVANIA 

" In 1822 he moved to Pennsylvania and located in what was then 
Jefferson (now Elk) County. His nearest neighbor was sixteen miles distant 
and nearest post-office about seventy miles. The approach to his location was 
from Olean Point, on the Allegheny River, and supplies were brought from 
that place over a rough wagon-road, about thirty miles of which he got over 
as best he could. He came there as the agent of Jacob Ridgway, of Phila- 
delphia, who owned a large tract of land in Jefferson County, expecting that 
the country would soon settle up. He built a grist-mill, upon a small scale, 
to supply his wants in that direction and those of the future settlers, but it 
was some years before it was used by any one except himself. In 1816, he 
married a Miss Mary Ridgway, of Philadelphia, a niece of his future em- 
ployer. By that marriage he had three children, — Ridgway B., Charles B., 
and Caroline, now the widow of Judge Houk, late of Ridgway. In that 
wild country he reared these three children. His wife died in 1826, and in 
1829 he married a Miss Celia A. Berry, who died in 1855, leaving seven 
children. In 1830 he moved from his farm, which he cleared six miles from 
the town of Ridgway to that place, naming the place Ridgway, where he 
and his family resided for a long time. In that country, where the benefits 
of education were very limited, he brought up his ten children, giving them 
such education as the country afforded, and all of them have acquitted 
themselves very creditably in life. One of his sons, Captain James H. 
Gillis, U.S.N., did gallant service in the late Rebellion. He was in com- 
mand of a war-vessel throughout the war, and at the bombardment of Mobile 
his vessel came in contact with a torpedo, was sunk to her gun-deck, but 
he fought her as long as there was enough of her above water to stand upon. 
While he was a midshipman, and the vessel to which he was attached was in 
a South American port, he called for volunteers from his crew, took one of 
the ship's boats, and saved the crew of a Chilian vessel which was going to 
pieces in a fierce storm two miles from the shore. He took the crew from 
the rigging and brought them safely to land. The act was recognized by 
the Chilian government in a fitting manner. Another son, B. W. Gillis, has 
made considerable reputation as a journalist in Virginia. Another son, 
C. V. Gillis, lives in this State. 

" JUDGE AND CONGRESSMAN 

" Judge Gillis was first appointed associate judge of Jefferson County 
bv Governor Porter. When Elk County was organized he was appointed 

719 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

one of the associate judges of that county and served one term. In 1840 
he was elected to the Legislature of Pennsylvania. He served in all three 
years in the House and one term in the Senate. He was elected to Congress 
in 1856, but he wrecked his future political advancement by voting for the 
Kansas-Nebraska bill. After his Congressional term closed he was appointed 
agent for the Pawnee tribe of Indians, and he located them upon their 
reservation, built buildings for them, among others a grist-mill, and was 
their faithful friend and protector while he remained with them. No act of 
peculation or crookedness was ever laid to his charge, either there or in any 
other public office which he held. As an evidence of his kindness and good- 
ness of heart he adopted from the tribe a little Pawnee girl, aged five or six 
years, under the following circumstances : Both parents of the child were 
dead ; she had no relatives who, under the laws of the tribe, were bound 
to care for her or support her, and was, therefore, cast off by every one. 
The story goes that Judge Gillis found her picking the pieces of fat off the 
entrails of a decayed buffalo. He immediately took her to his own quarters, 
had her washed, clothed, and cared for as if she were the most precious child 
in the world. He brought her to Ridgway with him when he returned. She 
lived in his family while he stayed there, went with him when he moved to 
Iowa, and died there. 

"His Congressional course was but one term; he knew his defeat for 
the second term would be sure if he favored or voted for the bill having for 
its end the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. His attachment to President 
Buchanan led him to vote for it against his better judgment. The President 
made it a party measure, and when he interviewed Judge Gillis the judge 
said to him, ' It is defeat for me in either event. If I do not vote for it the 
politicians will beat me; if I do the people will.' He knew the sentiments 
of his district. He was renominated by the Democratic Convention in 1858 
in his district, but was defeated at the polls by Chapin Hall, of Warren, now 
deceased. In Congress and in the Legislature of the State he was faithful 
always to the local interest of his constituents. It was through his efforts 
at Harrisburg more than that of any other man that the counties of Elk 
and Forest were organized, and in the contest for the location of the county 
seat of Elk County he favored, of course, the location at Ridgway, and used 
his future efforts to keep it there. When in the Senate he passed a resolution 
which created the county of Forest. It also passed the House of Representa- 
tives and is the only instance in the history of the State where a new county 
has been created by a joint resolution. It was approved by the governor, 
of course, and thereby became a law. It was near the close of the session, 
and the joint rules.jyould not allow of its passage in any other form. He 
did this to oblige a fellow-pioneer in the wilds of the new county, Cyrus 
Blood. Subsequently, Forest County was enlarged : its primitive limits 
were quite circumscribed. 

720 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

" THE ABDUCTION OF WILLIAM MORGAN 

" The connection of Judge Gillis with the abduction of William Morgan, 
of Batavia, New York, the exposer of the secrets of Masonry, rendered him 
notorious through life. He was tried at Canandaigua, New York, in con- 
nection with the affair and charged with being one of the abductors of 
Morgan. He was accused of being one of the party who helped to convey 
him from Batavia to Fort Niagara, whither he was taken, no doubt, in a 
closed carriage, and relays of horses were furnished by the brethren along the 
route, thus insuring rapid and secret transit. At the trial he was defended 
by John C. Spencer, a lawyer then of great reputation, of Canandaigua, 
afterward Secretary of War and of the Treasury, who subsequently became 
noted in the politics and affairs of the country. The trial resulted in the 
acquittal of Mr. Gillis, and the affair led to the formation of the party 
known in politics as the Anti-Masonic party, which held an important part in 
politics from 1827 to 1832. It held such power in Pennsylvania that in 1834 
Joseph Ritner was elected governor by it. The removal of the deposits 
from the United States Bank developed a new issue, and Morgan and his 
platform dropped out of politics. At the time Mr. Gillis was arrested he 
was residing upon a farm, which he was clearing up, in what was then 
Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, and which is upon the old road known as the 
Milesburg and Smethport turnpike, six miles northeast from Ridgway. At 
the time of his arrest he was busily at work clearing the farm, which was 
known then, and is now, as the Montmorenci farm. 

" A deputy sheriff from Ontario County, New York, came there for him. 
He was a man whom Gillis hated most intensely, but he kept him over night, 
as the nearest neighbor was sixteen miles distant. The sheriff had come 
there from the town of Indiana, the seat of justice then, accompanied by a 
deputy-sheriff of that county. The requisition of the governor of the State 
had been duly recognized by Judge Young, who was then holding court at 
Indiana, and the proper warrant had been issued for the arrest. The party 
started on horseback the next morning for Indiana, a distance of about one 
hundred miles through the woods. The most part of the way was only a 
blazed line and a bridle-path for their route. A heavy rain had caused the 
Clarion, the Red Bank, and other streams to rise very high, and the party 
was delayed three days over the proper time making the trip. Great anxiety 
was felt at Indiana, caused by the delay, and the opinion was freely expressed 
that Gillis had made way with both officers. Late one afternoon, however, 
the community were relieved by the arrival of the overdue party. Gillis was 
handed over to the sheriff of the county, who was a Mason, and spent a 
pleasant night in the town with his brother Masons. The next morning 
he procured a writ of habeas corpus to be issued by Judge Young. Indiana 
was the seat of justice then for Jefferson County. Upon the hearing a dis- 
charge was refused. He was conveyed to Canandaigua by way of Franklin 
46 721 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

and Erie, Pennsylvania, and Buffalo, New York. Upon the route he lacked 
neither food, drink, nor lodging. During the whole trip he refused to asso- 
ciate or have anything to do with the deputy-sheriff who nominally had him 
in custody — would not let him ride inside the stage with him. Gillis pledged 
his word to the sheriff before leaving Indiana, through a third party, that 
he would accompany the deputy to Canandaigua peaceably and quietly, but 
if any harsh means were used he would not be responsible for the conse- 
quences, and ironed he would not be. A rescue could have been invited at 
any point almost along the road. The sheriff knew this well; he also knew 
that his prisoner was a gentleman who would keep his word, and he relied 
upon it. When they arrived at Canandaigua he was released immediately 
upon bail, and he returned to Pennsylvania. At the proper time he went 
to Canandaigua, stood his trial, and was acquitted. He had the full report 
of the trial printed in a Masonic paper or magazine, called the Craftsman, 
published at the time, which he kept carefully through life. His special 
friends had access to it. The writer of this at one time requested Judge 
Gillis to write up the history and his knowledge of the Morgan affair and 
leave it sealed, and it should be kept sacred in the hands of the writer till 
after the death of the former, when it should be published, and thus throw 
some light upon the mystery. His reply was, ' I don't know, I never did 
know, what became of Morgan. You know from what you have read and 
from what I have told you what I was accused of. I have no knowledge 
as to what became of him. No information was ever imparted to me. He 
was evidently taken to Niagara Falls and passed into Canada from one set 
of men to another. At that time most every British man-of-war had a regular 
Masonic Lodge, acting under a charter from the Grand Lodge of Great 
Britain. Some of these were stationed at Montreal, Quebec, and Halifax. 
He could have been easily taken, or passed, from one to another, as being a 
man who had divulged the secrets of Masonry, till he reached one which 
was about sailing to a foreign shore, and carried there, kept in such position 
that he could communicate with no one, and ended his life in a natural 
way. I never believed that he was murdered, either by drowning, or other- 
wise, as alleged. At any rate, I can leave nothing behind me which will throw 
any light on the subject, and would not if I could. There are many persons 
living now, descendants of those who were implicated in the matter, and 
respect for them, if nothing more, is sufficient for me not to aid in stirring 
the subject, now almost forgotten.' He was a truthful, honorable man. What 
he told me I have no doubt was true. 

" his son's assassination 
" In 1862 he left Elk County and went to reside with his son Charles 
at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, the one who was shot dead in his own door last 
fall by some unknown and undiscovered assassin. The son was a good man, 

722 



HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 

beloved by every one, honest, faithful, true, and what the motive was which 
impelled any one to assassinate him is unexplained and a mystery. His 
father was the first one at his side after he fell, and there is no doubt but 
the shock experienced then very much shortened the father's days. Judge 
Gillis, after he moved to Iowa, made annual visits to Elk County, and took 
great comfort and delight in visiting his relatives and early friends. Every 
house was open to receive him, and he was beloved and welcomed by all. 
Throughout life he was a Democrat. The 7th day of October last, his eighty- 
eighth birthday, he was at Ridgway, and at a Democratic meeting he made 
a speech for Hancock and English and the whole ticket, the last and only 
one made during the campaign. Those who heard him say that it had the 
old style ring to it. Judge Gillis's early education was very limited. He was 
reared in the country, and at a time when school-houses were scarce and an 
education hard to obtain. He was a great reader. Engaged in a book, 
past midnight would often, and very often, find him absorbed in it, and if 
approaching the end of an interesting one the time of day or night was 
nothing to him till it was concluded. His library contained many of the 
standard works. Shakespeare, Scott's novels, and poems he was extrava- 
gantly fond of. The writings of the politicians and statesmen of this country 
he took great delight and interest in, and upon the political topics of the 
day he was always one of the best posted men. As an evidence of his 
reading power and ability it is a fact that he read through entire that set of 
public literature published by the Legislature of this State a few years ago, 
known as the ' Colonial Records and Pennsylvania Archives,' some twenty- 
five or thirty volumes — probably the only person who ever did it. Much, 
very much, of interest might be added to this, which would be of interest to 
the readers of the Post, about this man. His life and the part he took in the 
settlement of that part of Pennsylvania where he lived would make a very 
readable and valuable book. Probably it will not be written. He was a 
man of sterling and inflexible integrity, a kind, affectionate, companionable 
husband, friend, and parent. His conversational powers, fund of information, 
and anecdote were comprehensive and great ; every one loved his com- 
panionship and society, and last and best of all he died in the faith of a 
Christian, a firm believer in God the Father Almighty, and in His Son, 
and in the resurrection of the dead and life in the world to come. 

" Henry Souther.. 
" Erie, Pennsylvania, July 26, 1881." 



INDEX 



Abduction of William Morgan, 721 
Abolition laws enacted, 311 

meetings broken up by mobs, 318 
Abuse of the negro in 1840, 418 
Academies incorporated and chartered, 

360 
Act for erecting and establishing post- 
office, 204 
for the gradual abolition of slavery, 

315 
George Bryan, author of, 315 
for killing of wolves, 172 
for relief of redemptioners, 334 
for regulation of servants, 331 
of Legislature regulating banks, 344 
of 1792, for sale of vacant lands, 69 
survey of tract under, 69 
warrants taken out under, 70 
regulating importation of passengers, 

334 
to incorporate Sunbury and Erie 

Railroad, 690 
to prohibit importation of slaves, 320 
to provide for the education of the 

poor gratis, 350 
to provide for opening road to Le 
Boeuf, 194 
Acts declaring rivers and creeks pub- 
lic highways, 193 
governing indentured apprentiices, 
334-336 
Address of welcome to teachers of Jeffer- 
son County, 674-683 
Admiral Sir William Perm, death of, 76 
Adroit way to transmit money, 209 
Advertisement in slavery days, 365 

issued for mail-routes, 208 
Advertisements of German redemptioners, 
337 
of runaway slaves, 322 



African slavery in the United States, 310 
Aggregate number of men in Union 

army, 1861-65, 244 
Alden, Rev. Timothy, founder of Alle- 
gheny College, 653 
Algerine, origin of name, 397 
Algerines, 397 

" Allegheny," account of first trip of the, 
625 
Cornplanter invited on board of, 625 
Allegheny and Ohio Rivers public high- 
ways, act declaring, 193 
City, 659 

business capital invested, 660 
first mayor of, 659 
incorporated, 659 
location, 659 
origin of, 73 

population of, 1830-1840, 660 
College, founder of, 653 
reservation of Senecas, 649 
River, account of first steamboat on, 
634 
course of, 605 
first successful steam navigation 

of, 634 
general beauty of, 605 
Indian names of, 634 
list of steamboats plying on, 

1 840- 1 862, 626 
navigation of, 606, 622 
pilots of early days on the, 629 
pioneer boats on, 622 
pioneer navigation of, by white 
men, 634 
steamboat built for, 635 
steamboating on, 622 
prominent landings on, 627 
rafting on, 628 
source of, 605 
speed of steamboats on, 628 
trade of in 1846, 606 



725 



INDEX 



Allegheny Theological Institute, 659 

Valley Railroad, act to incorporate, 
696 
company organized, 696 
construction of, begun, 696 
first official schedule, 697 

operated, 697 
ground broken for, 696 
incorporators of, 696 
parlor cars used on, 697 
presidents of, 698 
sketch of, 698 
routes surveyed, 696 
America, first stone coal discovered in, 

707 
American Anti-Slavery Society, 311 
cuckoo, the, 141 
dentist, pioneer, 416 
goshawk, 145 
Odd Fellowship, 434 

heavy growth in member- 
ship, 43s 
Thomas Wildey, founder of, 
434 
Americans killed in different wars, 244 
Amusements, pioneer, 231-233 

winter, in 1840, 389 
Anderson, Charles, first to mine coal for 

general use, 709 
Animals, cruelty to, in 1840, 392 

domestic, brought by Columbus, 218 
ear-marks on, 393 
in the United States, number of, 

393 
value of, 393 
Anthracite coal business established, 367 
Anti-Masonic party, 721 
Antislavery speeches, newspapers refuse 

to publish, 319 
Apiculture, 151 

Apparel of women in 1840, 391 
Apprentices, indentured, acts governing, 

334-336 
Arrival of troops at Erie, 243 
Arrow-heads, 34 

manufacture of, 35 
Arrows, poisoned, how made, 34 
Associate Reformed church, 270 

prosperity of, in Western 
Pennsylvania, 270 
Asylum Peters, negro slave, 578, 600 . 



Audenreid, William, author of common 

school system, 355 
Axe the friend of the pioneer, 242 
Axes, early, 219 



Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, 416 

oriole, 142 
Bank failures, 345 

-note detector, 344, 414 
Baptist church of Butler County, 423 
of Crawford County, 424 
of Mercer County, 430 
of Venango County, 433 
of Warren County, 433 
Bar, women admitted to, 409 
Barber, first, in Brookville, 407 
Bark-peelers, 25 
Barnett, Joseph, 535~537 

acts as banker for Indians, 538 
log cabin tavern, 537 
mills erected by, 536, 537 
" Barring out" the school-master in 1840, 

413 
Basswood honey, 153 
Battles fought during Civil War, 669 
Bayonet vote, 673 

Bear, flesh of, prized by pioneer, 122 
great road-maker, 121 
habits of the, 173 
hard to trap, 122 
hunt on Sandy Lick, 159 
oil used in cooking, 122 
pen, how built, 122 
Pennsylvania, 121 
skins, price of, 122 
steel-trap, 122 

successful method of catching, 122 
Beaver, age of the. 108 
and Erie Canal, 584 
borough incorporated, 73 
canals, 109 
engineering and structural works of 

the, 10S 
City, early settlers at. 666 
location of, 665 
public buildings of, 666 
within 1784 purchase, 665 
dams, description of, 108 
how made, 108 



726 



INDEX 



Beaver dams, reasons for building, 108 
size of, 108 
home-making of, 108 
how trees are felled by, no 
mating of the, 107 
meadows, 109 
sight of, deficient, 109 
structure works of, 108 
traits of, 109 
Bee-hunting, 151 

a popular sport, 151, 155 
tree, cutting a, 154 
trees, 152 
Bees, Wild, 151 
Bell, Frederick A., 715 
Lewis & Gates, 711 

extensive operations of, 715, 
716 
Berg, Henry, and the S. P. C. A., 392 
Bey lynx, or catamount, 119, 130 
Bienville, Celeron de, expedition under, 

191 
Big Hoods, record of, 368 
Billy Boo, 400 
Birds, 136 

Acute hearing of, 141 
distance travelled by, 140 
female queen of the home, 140 
lectures on, 140 

matrimonial quarrels among. 140 
natural life of, 150 
Bison, or buffalo, no 
description of, no 
extermination of, in 
flesh of, delicious food, no 
.sexual season of, no 
terrible battles fought by males, no 
Bitter antagonism between war and anti- 
war people, 669 
Bituminous coal-field of Pennsylvania, 
area of, 717 
first shipments of, 717 
output of United States, 717 
Blackbird, the, 142 

red-winged, 142 
Black Charley and the eggs, 417 
" Black Hawk," first locomotive on Co- 
lumbia Railroad, 688 
trial trip of, 688 
Black snake, the, 240 
squirrel, 134 



Blacksmith, the immigrant, 434 
Block-house road, 608 
Blood, Cyrus, 521 

mills built by, 522 
settlement, Forest County, 521 
Blossburg : ("Peter's camp"), Tioga 

County, 614 
Blue-jay, the, 141 
affection of, 141 
frolicsomeness of, 141 
Boat-building on Clarion River, 529 
Bob-cat, 130 
Bobolink, the, 142 
Bonnecamp, Rev. Father, 191 
Bouquet's campaign against the Indians, 

200 
Bow-making, 33 

string, 33 
Boy deserts from army, 670 

sentenced to be shot, 670 
Boyd, J. G., cashier of Towanda Bank, 
613 
dual life of, 613 
suicide of, 613 
Braddock's road, 200 

Lieutenant-Colonel George Wash- 
ington's objection to, 201 
Bradford and State Line, 203 
Brady, Captain Samuel, 39 

adventures of, 40, 448 
expeditions of, against In- 
dians, 482 
first white settler in Clarion 

County, 482 
indicted for killing Indian, 
482 
Brandy Camp, 684 

origin of name, 684 
British Manchester Unity, 435 
Brockwayville and Punxsutawney Rail- 
road, 704 
Brookville, a town of shanties, 384 

arrival and departure of mails, 544 
as county seat, 399 
Backwoodsman, 403 
borough officers of in 1840, 400 
" cornstalk militia," 385 
Democrats in, in 1840, 388 
early preachers of, 388 
school-teachers, 544 
famous fifer of, 408 



727 



INDEX 



Brookville, first barber in, 407 

borough officers of, 400 

drug-store in, 407 

grocery-store in, 407 

jail in, 394, 545 

school-house in, 413 

stage-coach through, 215 

term of school in, 382 

taught by author's father, 
382 
Fourth of July celebration in, 404 
in 1840, buildings in, 419, 420 

description of, 418-420 
incoporated as borough, 399 
Jcffersonian, 403 
kitchen in 1840, 390 
laid out, 382 

leading Whigs in, in 1840, 388 
Lodge, I. O. O. F., 435 
matches first used in, 391 
merchants of, 544 

in 1840, 380, 382 
mighty hunters of, 377 
natural swimming-pools, 548 
Odd Fellows' Hall at, dedication of, 

436 
old court-house of, 394 
old-fashioned gardens in, 386 
origin of name, 542 
physicians of, in 1840, 388 
pioneer draying in, 540 

events in, 543 

industries in, 549-551 

school in, 543 
politics in, in 1840, 388 
" raisings" in, 384 
recollections of, 376 
school taught bv author's mother, 

383 
seat of justice of Jefferson County, 

542 
taverns in, 378 
Brookville's pioneer resurrection, 290 
coroner's inquest, 291 

verdict, 292 
indictments against resurrec- 
tionists, 298, 299 
newspaper-comments on, 293 
testimony given, 291 
true story of, 290-297 
Brown, John, 365 



Buffalo, or American bison, no 
Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburg Rail- 
road, 701 
change of route of, 702 
completed to Punxsu- 

tawney, 705 
first through train on, 

706 
inception of, 701 
officers of, 701, 706 
official organization of, 

701 
proposed route of, 702 
Slate Lick Branch, 706 
transportation of coal, 
706 
Railway Company, organiza- 
tion of, 704 
Burrows, General John, experience of 
early trip into Tioga County, 618 
Thomas H., superintendent of public 
instruction, 350 
Butcher-bird, the, 142 
Butler Academy, 451 
borough, 447 
City laid out, 451 
County Baptist church, 423 
boundary of, 447 
early settlers in, 454 
Economite church, 423 
education in, 447 
erected, 444 
first court held in, 449 

amusing scene at, 450 
white builder in, 453 
formation of, 444 
Indian trails in, 452 
Lutheran church, 423 
M. E. church, 423 
pioneer bridge built in, 454 
doctor in, 451 

newspaper in, 438 
school-house in, 451 
population of, 1810-1840, 447 
Presbyterian church, 423 

religious denominations of, 447 
Robert Morris, large land-owner 

in, 453 
Roman Catholic church, 423 
school districts in, 447 
United Presbyterian church, 423 



INDEX 



Cabin, pioneer, how built, 254 
Call for troops in 1S14, 243 
Calling wolves, trick of, 158 
Cameron County, area of, 486, 492 
desperadoes in, 491 
drainage of, 492 
early settlers in, 487 
first grist-mill in. 488 
newspaper in, 491 
formation of, 486 
game in, 491 

home of the Clafflin sisters, 489 
Indian depredations in, 493 
location of county seat, 490 
pioneer election of officers of, 489 
historian of, 489 
physician of, 489 
sessions of court, 489 
settlement in, 486 
store in, 491 
political divisions of, 492 
Press founded, 492 
salt-works in, 488 
" the great runaway," 493 
transportation in, 486 
whiskey a staple commodity, 487 
Campaign of 1864, 669 
Campbell, Archie, and Jimmie Kyle, 370 

and the apple-butter, 370 
Camp-meeting, description of exercises at, 
282 
Dutch, 283 
hymn, 283 
meetings, pioneer, 281 
Candles used in 1840, 406 
method of making, 406 
" Canoe Place," 55 
Canoes, how made, 34 
Cassatt, Alexander Johnston, 690 
Catamount, or bey lynx, 119, 130 
Census of free and slave States in 1840, 
329 
of United States in 1840, 402 
returns of negro slavery, 364 
Ceres Road, 569 

Chair-car introduced on railroads, 688 
Children, home training of, 389 
Chimney-sweeps, 544 
Circuit riders, outfit of, 431 



Circus, pioneer travelling, 467 
Civil War, Pennsylvania soldiers in, 674 
Clarion Baptist Association, organization 
of, 277 
churches represented in, 277 
constitution for, adopted, 277 
ordained ministers of, 277 
Clarion county, boat building in, 484 
boundaries of, 474 
draft in, for war of 1812, 483 
first child born in, 483 

church organized in, 483 
white settler in, 482 
food and raiment of first settlers, 

4S1 
formation of, 474 
iron furnaces in, 484 
location of county seat, 474 
Lutheran church, 425 
pioneer grist-mill, 485 
newspaper in, 438 
post-office in, 485 
settlers in, 479, 480 
population statistics of, 484 
Presbyterian church, 425 
religious denominations in, 474 
Roman Catholic church, 425 
thriving towns in, 477 
United Presbyterian church, 426 
pioneer court held in, 478 
judges in, 478 
officers of, 478 
public buildings in borough of, 477 
River a public highway, 478 
boat-building on, 529 
bridge over, 212 
first bridge across, 508 
pioneer steamboat on, 485 
town of, plotted by John Sloan, 478 
Clans, Iroquois system of, 23 
Clearing land, mode of, 217 
Clothing worn in 1840, 415 
Clover Harvey, famous fifer, 408 
Coal, earliest mention of, in history, 718 

mining for foreign market, 711 
Coinage, first, in United States, 342 

metal purchased for, 342 
Coke first used in Pennsylvania, 717 
Columbia Railroad, 687 

construction of track, 687 
first locomotive on, 687 



729 



INDEX 



Commodities for exchange in 1840, 414 
Common schools, creation of, in Penn- 
sylvania, 357 
early State appropriations to, 359 
school fund, law to provide, 355 
notice, 358 

system, address of Dr. William 
J. McKnight on, 349 
foundation of, 350 
introduction into America. 

349 
its inception, 349 
law creating, in Pennsylva- 
nia, 350 
law of, 1834, 358 
William Audenreid. author 
of, 355 
Concord coaches, 379 

description of, 380 
Condensed milk invented, 393 
Congregational church of Crawford 
County, 424 
of Warren County, 433 
Conneautville, borough of, incorporated, 

473 
Constantine, constitution of, 541 
Constitutional convention of 1837, 223 
Continental army, pay of officers and pri- 
vates in, 366 
Cooper-hawk, the, 145 
Copperhead, the, 234 

the description of, 235 
various names of, 235 
Copy of execution to levy for debt, 333 
Cornplanter, address of, to Washington, 
27 
and General William Irvine, intimacy 

between, 649 
birth of. 53 

chief of the Senecas, 48 
death of, 51 

extract from speech of, 49 
history of, 48 

inscriptions on monument to, 54 
invited to visit steamboat " Alle- 
gheny," 625 
letter of. to Governor of Pennsyl- 
vania, 53 
personal appearance of, 51 
Seneca chief, 653 
sketch of, 653 



Cornplanter, superstition of, 51 
" Cornstalk Militia," 385 
Correspondence between W. J. McKnight 

and Adjutant-General's office, 670 
Cost of pensions, 245 

Coudersport, county seat of Potter 
County, 592 
court-house built in, 592 
Library Association. 603 
Court officers of Brookville in 1840, 407 

week in 1840, 415 
Covington, early settlers at, 610 
rapid rise of, 613 
Tioga County, 610 
tragic tale of, 613 
Cowbird, the, 142 
Cradle hymn, Dr. Watts', 248 
Crawford County, area and dimensions 
of, 456 
Baptist church, 425 
bee-trees, 468 

Congregational church, 420 
Cumberland Presbyterian church, 

424 
Episcopal church, 424 
first wagon-road in, 459 
formation of, 456 
handsome lakes in, 456 
Indian trails in, 459 
lawyers, 470 
Lutheran church, 424 
manufactures of, 459 
Meade's trail, 459 
M. E. Church, 424 
pigeon-roosts, 468 
pioneer bank of, 467 
bridge, 470 
court in, 470 
Masonic Lodge in, 467 
newspaper in, 438 
Presbyterian church, 424 
Roman Catholic church, 424 
salt an early trade, 468 
salt-well in, 468 
salt-works in, 468 
small villages in, 470 
squirrel hunts in, 468 
statistics, 361 
streams in, 456 

thrilling adventures of early set- 
tlers of, 463-465 



730 



INDEX 



Crawford County, United Presbyterian 
church, 425 
Universal ist church, 424 
wild animals in, 468 
Crime from 1778 to 1855, 287 
Crow, the, 143 
as a pet, 143 
habits of, 143 
language of, 143 
Cruel punishment of redemptioners, 339 
Cruelty to animals in 1840, 392 
Cuckoo, American, the, 141 

courting of, 141 
Cumberland Presbyterian church, 275 
of Crawford County, 424 
of Venango County, 433 



D 

Daguerreotypes first made, 367 
" Dark day." the. 1819, 366 
Debt, imprisonment for, 333, 394 
Dedication of Odd Fellows' Hall at 

Brookville, 436 
Deer antlers, how shed and renewed, 124 

belling, 127 

craftiness of, 126 

hunted by wolves, 177 

licks, 127 

artificial, 125 

love of home in, 125 

mode of capturing, 120, 127 

peculiar to Pennsylvania, 124 

skin, price of, 128 

" stands," 125 

to capture, by still-hunt, 127 

used to cow-bells, 120 

Virginia white-tailed, 124 
Delaware and Shawnee Indians humbled, 
200 

County, tram road in, 687 
Delawares, early marriage of, 28 
Democrats in Brookville in 1840, 388 
Denominations of United States money, 

344 
Dental college in 1840, 416 
Dentistry, lines of Tom Moore and Aken- 

side apropos to, 416 
Depreciation lands, setting apart, 73 
" Devil John Thompson," 386 
Disease, treatment of, by Indians. 30 



Domestic animals, 391 

natural life of, 136 
comforts in 1780, 18 
Donation lands of Northwestern Penn- 
sylvania, 83 

address to Chief Whole Face, 98 

answer of Chief Whole Face to 
James Dickinson, 98 

Board of Property given power 
to act in cases of dispute, 102 

committee selected to superintend 
drawing for, too 

delinquency of Deputy-Surveyor 
Dickinson, 99 

description of, 90 

extensions of time in which to 
present applications for, 101 

fees for surveying, etc., 87 

Griffith Evans, Esq., appointed 
deputy-surveyor of, 99 

large number of claimants for, 
100 

legislation indemnifying patent- 
holders, 102 

letter of General William Irvine 
concerning, 88 

letter of James Dickinson to 
John Lukens, 97 

method of drawing lots for, 86 

persons entitled to, 85 

plan of distribution, 85 

proceedings of Supreme Execu- 
tive Council, 99 

removal from office of Deputy- 
Surveyor Dickinson, 99 

records relating to, transferred 
to surveyor-general's office, 104 

surveyor appointed, 96 

surveys of, made by Griffith 
Evans, 100 

varieities of trees growing on, 
90 

purposes, territory set apart for, 

85 
Dr. Watts' cradle-hymn, 248 
Dress of men in pioneer times, 221, 229 
of women in pioneer times, 222, 229 
Drug-store, first, in Brookville, 407 
Du Bois City, advertisement for sale of 
lots in\663, 664 
first purchase of lots in, 660 



731 



INDEX 



Du Bois City incorporated, 665 

originally called Rumbarger, 663 
pioneer business men of, 665 
history of, 660 
settlers in, 660 
lots in, advertised, 663 
within 1784 purchase, 665 
John, 715 
Dutch camp-meeting, 283 

E 

Eagle, bald, the, 137 

difference between golden eagle 

and, 139 
eggs of, 138 
favorite food of, 138 
nest of, 138 
prey of, 139 
size of, 138 
golden, the, 138 
prey of, 140 
Early dress of men, 221, 229 

home of the wild pigeon, 507 
modes of school discipline, 353 
Moravian missionaries, 46 
pioneers, few professing Christians 
among, 488 
profanity among, 488 
preachers of Brookville, 388 
roads and trails, 181 
schools in Pennsylvania, 410 
studies pursued in, 410 
State appropriations to common 

schools, 359 
type of Christianity, 20 
Ear-marks on animals, 393 
Earthquake shocks in Pennsylvania, 368 
East Terminal Railroad Company, 704 
Economite church of Butler County, 423 
Education leading topic of Governor 
Wolf's message, 354 
of teachers, school for, 358 
Election returns in 1840, 401 
Electricity in 1800, 20 
Elk and venison jerk, 168 

antlers, biggest set of, 117 
battles with wolves,_Ji-i6 
captured alive, 117 
challenge of, for mate, 114 
chief rules herd, 117 



Elk County, act of Assembly, erecting, 

494 

boats and rafting in, 504 

court officers of, 498 
derivation of name, 512 
early saw- and grist-mills, 504 
early settlers in, 498 
first nursery in, 507 
formation of, 494 
game in, 508 
lawyers of, 498 
location of county seat, 502 
Methodist church, 426 
noted hunters of, 507 
pioneer coal operators in, 513 
court in, 497 
newspapers in, 438 
physician in, 515 
schools in, 514, 515 
settlers in, 408 
stages of, 513 
tannery in, 503 
teamsters of, 507 
transportation, 512 
Ridgway Township, 494 
roads and turnpikes of, 503 
Roman Catholic church, 426 
timber of, 502 
description of, 112 
description of battle between wolves 

and, 118 
frightened at own shadow, 116 
habitat of, ill 
horns used for inn sign, 123 
hunting, at night, 116 

incidents of, 602 
keen scent of, 113 
last killed, 117 
lick, great, 115 
offensive capacity of, 178 
on exhibition, 117 
mode of capturing, alive. 603 
paths, 116 
rocks, us 

rutting season of, 113 
skill in hunting, 113 
spread of antlers of, 113 
taught to work like oxen, 118 
treed by buck, 113 
wide distribution of, 11 1 
Emigration in 1800, 19 



732 



INDEX 



Episcopal church of Crawford County, 
424 
of Venango County, 433 
Erie, arrival of troops at, 243 
Canal, 562 
Company, 584 
established, 74 
Extension Canal, 584 
triangle, purchase of, 72 
survey of, 72 
Ettwein, Rev. John, 47 
death of, 263 
extracts from diary of, 47 

from journal of, 260-263 
ordained bishop, 263 
Execution to levy for debt, copy of, 333 
Expenses of Revolutionary War, 402 
Express business started, 367 
Extract from speech delivered by Senator 
McKnight, in 1881, in Pennsylvania 
Senate, 312 



Fair-play men, 63 

Famous hunters of pioneer times, 604 

" Fast" or preparation day, 387 

Father accidentally shot by his son, 577 

Female seminaries incorporated, 359 

workers in 1880, 410 
Fence law, how the pioneer obeyed, 218 
Ferries on French Creek, 636 
First agricultural society in America, 220 

cab used, 204 

jail in Brookville, 394 

newspaper in Western Pennsylvania, 

374 
non-sectarian government in the 

world, 21 
Odd Fellows' lodge in new world, 

434 
omnibus used, 204 

use of wooden rails and car in coal- 
mine, 717 

white settler in Brookville, 397 
Flax, hackling, 222 
harvesting, 222 
pulling, 222 
scutching, 222 
Forbes, General, pioneer road opened by, 

200 
Forbes's trail, 181 



Forest County, act organizing, for judi- 
cial purposes, 522 
" Blood settlement," 521 
boundaries of, 518 
county seat located, 5 
deer licks in, 527 
early lawyers in, 526 
first coal mined in, 527 
formation of, 518 
joint resolution establishing, 518 
judges of, 525, 526 
pioneer court-house of, 522 
election, 525 
flat-boats, 528 
mail service, 528 
missionary in, 528 
newspaper in, 438 
officers of, 526 
post-office in, 522 
roads opened, 321 
school in, 528 
tipples, 528 
price of wild land in, 518 
sale of lots in Marion, 528 
Salmon Creek, home of beavers, 
527 
Fort Duquesne abandoned by French. 
200 
becomes nucleus for English set- 
tlement, 200 
Fort Franklin, armament of, 631 
block-house of, 631 
description of, 630 
erection of, 630 
garrison of, 631 
location of, 631 
Le Bceuf, settlement at, 74 
Mcintosh, 75 

Stanwix, treaty at, 1768, 56 
Foster, Jonathan, accidentally shot by his 

son, 577 
Fourth of July celebration, in Brookville, 
404 
volunteer toasts, 404, 405 
Fox, the, 132 

fond of ground-hog eating, 133 

gray, 132 

hardest animal to trap. 123 

puppies, 132 

red, 132 

varieties of, in United States, 132 



733 



INDEX 



Franklin, county seat of Venango County, 
632 

during the war of 1812, 632 

established, 74 

first settlers at, 632 

white child born in, 634 

oldest town in Venango County, 633 
Free school the nation's hope, 414 
Fremont and Cochrane withdraw, 673 
French Creek, ferries on, 636 
Friction matches first made, 367 
Fulton patents steamboat, 366 
Furniture, pioneer, 224 
Furs, wholesale prices of, in 1804, 129 



Geological surveys, 710 
German redemptioners, 336, 337 
Gigging fish, 227 
Gillis, Captain James H., 719 

gallant service of, in Rebellion, 719 
Charles, assassination of, 722 
James L., 718 

acquitted of, for Morgan murder, 

721 
adopts Indian girl, 720 
agent of Jacob Ridgway, 719 
appointed Indian agent, 720 
appointed judge, 719 
arrest of, for Morgan murder, 

721 
arrested for abduction of Mor- 
gan, 501 
attachment to President Bu- 
chanan, 720 
birth of, 718 
blameless life of, 723 
builds grist-mills, 719 

for Indians, 720 
characteristics of, 502 
children of, 719 
Congressional term of, 720 
connection of, with abduction of 

Morgan, 721 
conversational power of, 723 
death of, 723 
early education, of , 723 
elected to Legislature, 720 
enlists in volunteers, 718 
great reader, 723 



Gillis, James L., influence of, in Legis- 
lature, 720 
library of, 723 
lieutenant of cavalry, 718 
locates in Pennsylvania, 719 
marriage of, 719 
pioneer of Ridgway Township, 

Soi 
receives bounty of land, 719 
released on bail, 722 
second marriage of, 719 
secures mail route, 501 
statement of, about Morgan, 722 
taken prisoner by British, 718 
trial of, 721 
Girard College, 358 
Gist, Christopher, Western Pennsylvania 

explored by, 199 
Gold bullion, first deposit of, in United 
States Mint, 343 
coinage, first return of, 343 
Goshawk, American, 145 
Grand Lodge of Odd Fellows, first, in 

United States, 435 
Gray squirrel, 135 
" Great Elk, Lick," Potter County, 602 

Valley and Bradford Railroad, 703 
Grocery-store, first, in Brookville, 407 
Grouse, or pheasant, 149 

H 

Hackney, Hon. Joseph, associate judge of 
Warren County, 647 
sketch of, 646 
Hamilton, Robert, 546 
Harvesting in early days, 220 
Hawk, the, 145 

red-shouldered, 145 

sharp-shinned, 145 
Haying in the olden time, 220 
Heckewelder, Rev. John, 46, 258 
Heirship among North American Indians, 

23 
Higher education of women, 409 
Hoffman, Dr. Ferd., 237 
Holland Land Company, 66, 570, 641 

establish store at Warren, 

641 
persons composing, 106 
" Hollow horn," treatment of, 392 



734 



INDEX 



Home-made candles, 406 

occupations of women in 1840, 391 
sweet home, in 1840, 392 
training of children in 1840, 389 
Hominy-mills, 35 
Honey, bass wood, 153 
bee, 151 

wild, bait used in "lining," 154 
wild, " lining," 133 
wild, mode of hunting, 152 
Hook, Jacob, arrested for perjury, 641 

mobbed, 641 
Horse-car follows train, 686 

cars between Columbia and Philadel- 

delphia, 687 
racing in pioneer days, 373 
Hospitality, pioneer, 223 
Hotels of 1840, 395 

bar of, described, 395 
" How fair is the rose," 387 
Hudson Bay or red squirrel, 135 
Humming-birds, 150 
Hunt, Jim, bear-hunter, 398 
Hutchinson, Joseph, pioneer settler in 

Jefferson County, 536 
Hyde, Joseph Smith, anecdote of, 507 

sketch of, 515-517 
Hymn-books, pioneer, 248 



Ignorance in 1840, 406 
Immigrant blacksmith, the, 434 
Implements of stone and copper, 35 
description of manufactured, 35 
Importation of passengers, act regulating, 

334 
Imprisonment for debt, 333, 394 

act abolishing, 333 
Incident on the pike, 168 
Indentured apprentices, 330, 401 
Indian amusements, 29 

bow, how made, 33 

canoes, 34 

doctors, 30 

express, so-called, 37 

festivals, 45 

names of, 45 

heraldry, 45 

huts, description of, 26 
how built, 25 



Indian love-making, 46 

marriage ceremonies attending, 28 
moccasins, 45 
names of streams, 539, 578 
" nunnery," 266 
remedies, 31 
reservations, schools and churches on, 

649 
runners, 34 
stratagem in war, 33 
superstitions, 28 
terms of peace, 33 
the, as a ball-player, 45 

as a runner, 45 
tobacco-pipes, 34 
trails, 38 
treaties at Forts Stanwix and 

Mcintosh, 75 
villages, how built, 42 
wampum, 41 

war-dance, description of, 29 
wars, how carried on, 31 
how declared, 32 
preparations for, 32 
Indians, how they travelled, 29 

introduction of rum among, 39 
weapons employed by, 33 
Industrial rights of women in 1840, 410 
Introductory, 17 
Iroquois, or Six Nations, 22 
early marriage of, 28 
names of families of, 22 
system of clans, 23 
treachery of, 24 
polygamy among, 24 
Irwin, Guy C, Napoleon in lumber busi- 
ness, 645 



Jamieson, Rev. John, attainments of, 275 
children of, 271, 272 
comes to America, 271 
death of, 275 
deposed from synod, 274 
descendant of noble family. 271 
devotion to duty, 274 
early and adult life of, 271 
erects first county jail, 275 
found guilty of libel, 274 
made moderator, 273 
marriage of, 271 



735 



INDEX 



Jamieson, Rev. John, organizer of numer- 
ous religious bodies, 274 
organizes Crete church, 272 
pioneer home farm of, 275 
serves as count}- commissioner. 

275 

sketch of, 271 

trial of, for libel, 273 

trustee of Indiana Academy, 275 
Jeffers. James, fights and conquers two 
Indians, 580 

noted hunter, 5S0 
Jefferson County, act authorizing militia 

in, 547 
boundaries of, 531 
character of surface of, 532 
county seat, 399, 545 
covered bridge, 548 
delegate election, 671 
earl}' cabins erected in, 540 
graveyard in, 542 
settlers in, 532, 536 
store in, 541 
first assessment for, 552 
election in, 541 
school-house in, 411 
school-master in, 411 
forest trees, 532 
formation of. 531 
hunting-ground for whites and 
Indians, 532 
Indian names of streams, 539 
Lutheran church, 429 
Methodist church, 428 
militia legislation, 547 
murders in, 541 
named for President, 531 

natural advantages of, 535 
officers of militia, 547 
original area of, 531 
boundary of, 532 
pioneer coal-mining in, 707 
coal strike in, 717 
Methodist church building 

in, 429 
newspaper in, 43S 
Odd Fellows' lodge in, 435 
physician in, 546 
Presbyterian ministers in. 

427, +28 
roads, 540 



Jefferson County pioneer surgical opera- 
tion, 546 
wagons in, 539 
Presbyterian church, 427 
price of wild lands in, 532 
Roman Catholic church. 429 
seat of justice of, 542 
Seneca Indians in, 538 
soldier vote issue in, 671 
statistics, 362 
tar-burning in, 539 
Teachers' Institute, 674 

address delivered at, by 
W. J. McKnight, 674- 
683 
vote for President in, in 1864, 673 
Thomas, on ploughs, 219 
Jenks. Dr. John W., 546 
Junco, or snowbird, the. 145 
Junkin, Rev. David X., extract from cen- 
tennial sermon of, 264 

K 

Keen, W. W.. M.D., petition of, 302 
Kettles, clay, 34 

Keystone, name, first applied to Pennsyl- 
vania, 368 
Kingbird, the, 142 
Kingfisher, belted, 150 
Kingsley, Ebenezer, pioneer hunter, 527 

streams named by, 527 
King's settlement, McKean County, 573 
Kissing parties, 231 
Knapp, Moses, first settler in Brookville, 

551 
Kyashuta sues for peace, 200 



Land, how the pioneer bought, 221 
Last slave in Pennsylvania, 311 
Law legalizing dissection in Pennsylvania. 
202 
to provide common school fund, 355 
Lawrence County, boroughs of, 562, 565 
boundaries of, 558 
county seat of, 558 
description of pioneer school- 
houses, 567 
early church organiatizon, 565 
school-teachers in, 566, 567 



736 



INDEX 



Lawrence County, first schools in, 566 
white settlers in, 561 
mail facilities of, 565 
named for Perry's flagship, 558 
pioneer newspaper in, 438 
term of court, 561 

attorneys admitted 
at, 561 
population of, when organized, 

558 
Revolutionary soldiers of, 568 
roads established in, 561 
settled by Scotch-Irish, 558 
when erected, 558 
Leading Whigs in Brookville in 1840, 388 
Legal relations of man and wife, 245 

rights of married women, 408 
Legalized dissection in Pennsylvania, 294 
petition to Legislature asking 
for, 302 
slavery in 1840, 401 
" Lenni Lenape," or Delawares, 36 
Lincoln and Johnson nominated, 669 
denounced, 670 
re-election of, 669 
story, a, 670 
Local history, 669 
Logging in 1840, 39s 
Long, Bill, kills first deer, 156 
the " king hunter," 156 
story of, 156 
Jack, and his dog Trim, 170 
birth of, 179 
death of, 180 
facts in career of, 179 
Louis (Ludwig), 156 

still-house of, 156 
William, adventure with panther, 166 
and Charlie Southerland, 161 
and his son Jack, 170 
and John, on panther-hunt, 159 
captures bear cubs, 162 

live elk, 167 
death of, 173 
early dress of, 173 
fight with a deer, 165 
first lesson in art of hunting, 158 
marriage of, 160 

number of animals killed by, 166 
raises elk with cows, 167 
tomahawks panther, 169 

47 737 



Lords and lairds, 346 
Lottery, granting of warrants by, 63 
Low Grade Railroad, 698 
charter of, 698 
extent of, 698 
general offices of, 699 
grade of, 699 
opened for service, 699 
pioneer wreck on, 699 
route of, 699 
tunnels on, 699 
Lumbering in 1840, 395 
Lumberman's Bank at Warren, failure of, 

646 
Lutheran church of Butler County, 423 
of Clarion County, 425 
of Crawford County, 424 
of Jefferson County, 429 



M 

Magaw, Colonel, inventor of straw paper, 

467 
Mail-routes, advertisements issued for, 
208 
established between Erie and 

Pittsburg, 470 
pioneer, 204-206 
Mails, arrivals and departures of, 544 
Man and wife, legal relations of, 245 
Manchester Unity, British, 435 
Maple-sugar industry, 250 

method of making, 250 
Marketing, primitive methods of, 454 
Married women, legal rights of, 408 
Masonic Lodge, pioneer, in Crawford 
County, 467 
officers of, 467 
Matches first used, 391 
McClellan and Pendleton nominated, 673 

idol of the army, 673 
McConnell, David B., picnic in honor of, 

554 
McCurdy, James, 253 
McKean County, county seat of, 570 
court-house erected, 570 
first coal found in, 578 
court held in, 570 
formation of, 569 
Indian names for streams, 578 
location of county seat, 570 



INDEX 



McKean County, manufacture of salt in, 

574 
named in honor of governor, 569 
organized for judicial purposes, 

570 
panther hunters in, 578 
pioneer court in, 577 
hunters in, 577 
newspaper in, 442 
physician in, 578 
school in, 578 
settlers in, 573 
roads of, 570 
situation of, 569 
statistics, 362 

towns and villages of, 574 
Governor, letters to, from John Flem- 
ing, 187, 189 
McKnight, W. J., addresses Teachers' In- 
stitute of Jefferson County, 
674-683 
as mail-boy, 683, 684 
description of first trip of, 683, 

684 
saves life of boy deserter, 670 
Meade, David and John, adventures of, 
459-461 
first settler of Meadville, 461 
Meade's trail, 181, 459 

transportation over, 459 
Meadow-lark, the, 142 
Meadville, growth in population of, 466 
incorporated, 466 
manufactures of, 467 
pioneer burgess, 466 
cemetery, 466 
murder in, 470 
post-office established, 466 
Mercer and Meadville Turnpike, 469 
Company, 584 
borough, 583 
churches in, 584 
first school-house in, 586 
pioneer fire company of, 586 
County, attorneys at first court in, 587 
Baptist church, 430 
county buildings in, 584 
county officeTs commissioned, 586 
description of pioneer school- 
houses in, 589 
of surface of, 579 



Mercer County, dimensions of, 579 
during war of 1812, 588 
early mail and stage routes, 585 
school-houses in, 589 
settlers in, 583, 588 
first court-house in, 587 

courts held in, 583 
formation of, 579 
incorporation of boroughs in, 591 
Indian towns in, 580 
Indians of, 580 
iron furnaces in, 585 
location of county seat, 583 
Methodist church, 430 
miscellaneous churches in, 431 
pioneer agricultural society, 585 
doctors in, 585 
industries in, 585 
justice of the peace, 585 
Masonic lodge in, 591 
missionary society in, 586 
newspapers, 443, 585 
postmasters, 585 
post-offices, 585 
population of, 1800-1840, 579 
Presbyterian church, 429 
Revolutionary patriots in, 431 
school statistics, 590 
schools, history of, 589 
snakes in, 580 
statistics, 362 
streams of, 579 
subscription schools in, 590 
survey and settlement of, 579 
townships of, 590 
United Presbyterian church, 430 
wild animals in, 580 
Merchants of Brookville in 1840, 382 
Merriman, Charles P., great snare-drum- 
mer, 407 
Message of Governor Wolf, education 

leading topic of, 354 
Methodism introduced in Pennsylvania, 

279 
Methodist church first temperance organi- 
zation in America, 279 
of Jefferson County, 428 
of Mercer County, 430 
of Potter County, 431 
of Venango County, 432 
of Warren County, 433 



738 



INDEX 



Methodist Episcopal church of Butler 
County, 423 
of Crawford County, 424 
organization of, 278 
success of, remarkable, 278 
general conference of, first 
session, 278 
paper, first, started, 279 
ministers, annual allowances of wives, 

widows, and orphans of, 280, 281 
ministers, salaries of, 280 
Mifflin, Thomas, official letters of, 182 
Mighty hunters of Brookville, 377 
Mileage owned and operated by Pennsyl- 
vania System in Northwestern Penn- 
sylvania, 700 
Milesburg and Waterford State Road, 

459 
Militia encampments in 1840, 385 
Millionaires in United States, 345 
Mink, the, 130 

average weight of, 130 
dietary of, 130 
Mint, United States, act passed establish- 
ing, 342 
first building erected for, 342 
corner-stone laid, 342 

deposit of gold bullion 
in, 343 
of silver bullion in, 

343 
mentioned, 342 
return of gold coinage, 

343 
Miscellaneous churches in Mercer County, 

431 
Missionary work, pioneer, 256 
Moore, Hon. Jesse, first judge in War- 
ren County, 654 
Moose, or leather-wood tree, 168 
Morgan, William, abduction of, 501, 721 
exposer of Masonic secrets, 721 
Morris, Robert, effects of, sold by mar- 
shal, 453 
introduces subject of national 

mint, 342 
Revolutionary patriot, 452 
Mormon converts, 636 
Morrow's- " freight line," 381 

last trip to Brookville. 382 
Muhlenburg. Rev. Henry Melchior, 278 



Music-books in 1840, 400 
schools, pioneer, 247 
teachers in 1840, 400 

N 

Natural gas, first application for fuel, 375 
discovered, 374 
historical of, 374 
use of, in United States, 374 
National mint, first spoken of, 342 
Negro, abuse of, in 1840, 418 

Odd Fellows in United States, 435 
slaver}', census returns of, 364 
slaves in the thirteen original States, 

3il 
New Castle, churches of, 562 

county seat of Lawrence County, 

558' 
early teachers in, 568 
history of early schools of, 567 
location of, 562 
made a borough, 561 
pioneer industries in, 561, 562, 

566 
population of, 561 
wild animals around, 561 
" New purchase," lands in, 453 
Newspaper, pioneer, in Butler County, 438 
in Clarion County, 438 
in Crawford County, 438 
in Elk County, 438 
in Forest County, 438 
in Jefferson County, 438 
in Lawrence County, 438 
in McKean County, 442 
in Mercer County, 443 
in Potter County, 443 
in Tioga County, 443 
in Venango County, 443 
in Warren County, 443 
writings of Withie Reynolds, extracts 
from, 622 
Newspapers, pioneer, in Northwestern 

Pennsylvania, 438 
New York, Lake Erie and Western Rail- 
road, 707 
Nigger, who skinned the, 290 
North American Indians, burning of the 
white dog, 24 
drunkenness among, 27 



739 



INDEX 



North American Indians, green-corn 
dance, 24 
heirship among, 23 
hereditary titles of, 23 

power of, 23 
religious creed of, 24 
star, guide for fugitive slaves, 318 
Northumberland County lottery warrants, 
64 
apportionment of, 65 
Northwestern Pennsylvania, army officers 
of, in War of 1812, 473 
last panthers killed in, 179 
last wolves killed in, 178 
mileage owned and operated by 
the Pennsylvania System in, 
700 
Odd Fellowship in, 434 
pioneer homes of, 224 
newspapers in, 438 
permanent settlement in, 459 
railroads in, 690 
taxable inhabitants in, 658 
section, boundaries of, described, 77 
Noshaken, legend of, 41 



Oil, petroleum, first transportation of, to 
Pittsburg, 627 
fortunes made in, 628 
Old court-house of Brookville, 394 
" Old-Fashioned Doctor, the," 289 
fireplace, 390 

gardens in Brookville, 386 
folks' picnic, 554 

list of old people at, 554 
" Old Grimes is dead," pioneer song, 246 
Old-time tavern, the, 620 
Opening a road to Le Bceuf, act providing 

for, 194 
Opossum, the, 134 

easily domesticated, 134 
omnivorous and carnivorous, 134 
three varieties of, 134 
Organizing schools, method of, 353 
Origin of State anatomical law, 300 

of white slavery, 310 
Oriole, Baltimore, 142 
Otter, plays and playgrounds of, 132 
river, 131 
strength contests, 132 



O'Bail, John, father of Cornplanter, 53 
Odd Fellows, first Grand Lodge of, in 
United States, 435 
Hall at Brookville, dedication of, 

436 
lodge, first, in new world, 435 
pioneer, in Jefferson County, 

435 
negro, in United States, 435 
where they came from, 434 
Odd Fellowship, American, 434 

Thomas Wildey, founder of, 434 

heavy growth in membership, 435 

in Crawford County, 437 

in Mercer County, 437 

in Northwestern Pennsylvania, 

434 
in Venango County, 437 
in Jefferson Comity, 43s, 437 
Ohio and Allegheny Rivers public high- 
ways, act declaring, 193 
Company formed, 159 
Oil. petroleum, early discoveries of, 578 



Pack-horses, goods carried by, 202 

supplanted by Conestoga wagons, 
203 

Paddies of the pike, 168 

Panther, average length of, 119 
fight with bear, 177 
habits of the, 174 
hunters in McKean County, 578 
largest carnivorous beast, 119 
lynx sometimes mistaken for, 119 
pelt, price of, 119 
puma sometimes called, 119 
whelp, bounty on head of, 119 

Parties, social, 231 
kissing, 231 

Pass system on railroads, origin of, 688 

Patton, William Augustus, 690 

Peace, terms of, Indian, 33 

Penn family during the Revolution, 76 
William, Jr.. 76 
Pennsylvania founded by, 76 
sails for England, 76 
death of. 76 

Perms in America, rule of, ended, 77 



740 



INDEX 



Pennsylvania, bituminous coal-field of, 
area of, 717 
Canal, 562 
constitutions, 284 
founded, 76 
pioneer post-office established in, 204 

railroad in, 687 
Railroad, completion of, 686 
enormous growth of, 689 
first passenger train over, with- 
out change, 686 

greatest industrial institution in 
country, 689 
inception of, 685 
mileage of, 689 

owned and operated by, in 
Northwestern Pennsylva- 
nia, 700 
monopoly of transportation, 689 
other lines controlled by, 689 
ramifications of, 689 
tunnel under North River, 689 
Society for the Promotion of Public 

Schools, 357 
soil, noteworthy events on, 312, 315 
soldiers in the Civil War, 674 
system of railroads, 685 
wagon, description of, 395 
Pensions, cost of, 245 
Peters, Asylum, 578, 600 
Petition of W. W. Keen, M.D., 302 

to Legislature asking for legalized 
dissection, 302 
signers to, 304, 305 
Petroleum, first mention of, in history, 

578 
Philadelphia Anatomical Association, ex- 
tracts from minutes of, 300-302 
and New York in 1800, 19 
and Pittsburg mail stages, 203 
to Pittsburg, travel from, 688 
Physicians of Brookville in 1840, 388 
Pigeon-roosts, 147 
wild, the, 146 

habits of, 148 
Pioneer act of Legislature regulating 
banks, 344 
to provide free education, 350 
advertisement of letters, 209 
advertisement in slavery days, 365 



Pioneer agriculture, 217 
amusements, 231-233 
animals, 107 
axe the friend of, 242 
banks, 344 

Baptist church in Northwestern Penn- 
sylvania, 276 
bar, 284 

birds, varieties of, 149 
cabin, description of, 225 
how built, 254 
how lighted, 225 
how fastened at night, 225 
pests in and around, 226 
camp-meetings, 281 
Catholic church in Pennsylvania, 283 
priest in Pennsylvania, 283 
service in Pennsylvania, 283 
churches in Northwestern Pennsylva- 
nia, 423 
circuit courts, 284, 286 

judges, 285, 286 
coal-mining in Jefferson County, 707 
coal strike in Jefferson County, 717 
cooking, 226 
dishes, 226 
doctor, the, 288 
dress of, 289 
fees of, 289 
habits of, 288 

trials and hardships of, 288, 289 
English African slave trader, 310 
evening frolics, 218, 231 
food, 226 

furniture, 224, 254 
habits of the, 228 

homes of Northwestern Pennsylva- 
nia, 224 
hospitality, 223 
hymn-books, 248 
inns in Jefferson County, 216 
lawyers, 287 
characteristics of, 287 
Lutheran church in Northwestern 

Pennsylvania, 278 
mail-routes, 204 
meats, 226 
Methodism, 278 

Methodist church building in Jeffer- 
son County, 429 



741 



INDEX 



Pioneer Methodist preaching in Pennsyl- 
vania, 279 

sermon in America, 279 
missionaries, 256, 258 
missionary work, 256 
money, 342 
music, 247 

schools, 247 
native American dentist, 416 
newspaper in Butler County, 438 

in Clarion County, 438 

in Crawford County, 438 

in Elk County, 438 

in Forrest County, 438 

in Jefferson County, 438 

in Lawrence County, 438 

in McKean County, 442 

in Mercer County, 443 

in Potter County, 443 

in Tioga County, 443 

in Venango County, 443 

in Warren County, 443 
newspapers in Northwestern Pennsyl- 
vania, 438 
Odd Fellows' lodge in Jefferson 

County, 435 
planing-mill, 373 

preachers in Northwestern Pennsyl- 
vania, 423 - 433 
Presbyterian church, 426 
presbytery, 276 
Presidential Convention, 374 
Protestant church building, 426 
race horses, 373 
railroad in Pennsylvania, 687 

restaurant, 686 
resurrection, Brookville's, 290 
road opened by General Forbes, 200 
saw-mills, 372 

school-houses in Pennsylvania, 356 
schools, corporal punishment in, 590 

" cut jackets," 590 

favorite modes of punishment in, 
590 
singing-masters, 247 
sleeping-car, 688 

song, "Old Grimesijs.-dead," 246 
stage-coach announcement, 513 
steamboating on the Allegheny River, 

622 
steamer to cross Atlantic, 367 



Pioneer strike in America, 367 

Sunday-school in New World, 279 

in the world, 279 
surveys and surveyors, 76 
letter in regard to, 79 
teachers' institutes, 359 
telegram sent, 367 
thanksgiving days, 368 
tools of, 242 
travelling circus, 467 
United Presbyterian churches, 426 
weekly mail-route between Pittsburg 

and Erie, 635 
woman, the, 229 

chief industry of, 229 
Pittsburg and New York Railroad, 703 
and State Line Railroad Company, 

704 
conference organized, 279 
Kittanning and Warren Railroad 

chartered, 635 
laid out, 200 
noted resorts of, frequented by river 

men, 628 
Summerville and Clarion Railroad, 

700 
charter members of, 701 
coal-fields on, 701 
completion of, 701 
length of main line, 701 
opened for traffic, 701 
Plays, popular, 232, 233 
Plough, the Newbold, 219 
Ploughs, early, 219 

Thomas Jefferson on, 219 
Poe, Thomas, mortally wounded, 243 
Poisoned arrows, 34 
Political conventions in 1840, 395 
Politics in Brookville in 1840, 388 
Poll-evil, old-time cure for, 398 
Popular plays, 232, 233 
Population in United States, progress of, 
328 
of United States in 1800. 19 
statistics, 309, 402 
Porcupine, the, 128 
food of, 129 
trap, 129 
Port Allegheny, early settlers near, 577 
pioneer school in, 578 
Barnett, 480 



742 



INDEX 



Port Barnett, post-office established at, 

207 
Portage Road, one of wonders of Amer- 
ica, 686 
Post, Christian Frederic, 256 
death of, 258 

extract from journal of, 256 
first Moravian west of Alle- 

ghenies, 257 
marriages of, 258 
sails for Labrador, 258 
Postage in 1840, 405 
rates in 1815, 207 

in 1837, 210 
stamps, first issue in United States, 
210 
first used, 210 
invented, 210 
Post-office, act for erecting and establish- 
ing, 204 
established at Port Barnett, 207 
pioneer, established in Pennsyl- 
vania, 204 
offices established in Jefferson County, 
208 
in United States in 1815, 206 
roads, extent of, in 1837, 209 
Potter County a wilderness in 1804, 599 
area and extent of, 592 
commissioners of, 601 >- 
early settlements in, 600 
erection of, 592 
extracts from correspondence of 

early settlers in, 595 
first murder in, 603 
first officers of, 601 
settler in, 600 
wedding in, 601 
gradual organization of, 601 
great elk lick in, 602 
hardships of early settlers in, 

592-599, 601 
highways in, 604 
hundredth anniversary of erec- 
tion of, 605 
location of county seat, 592 
Methodist church, 431 
origin of name of " Shingle 

House," 600 
originally called Sinnemahoning, 
599 



Potter County, pioneer mail route estab- 
lished, 604 
newspapers in, 443, 604, 605 
postmaster in, 604 
religious services in, 604 
school-teacher, 603 
term of school in, 603 
population of, 1810-1840, 592 
prominent names -"'ru, history of, 

600 
romance and adventure in lives of 

old settlers of, 601 
statistics, 363 
streams of, 592 
tragical incident in, 601 
Presbyterian church of Butler County, 423 
of Clarion County, 425 
of Crawford County, 424 
of Jefferson County, 427 
of Mercer County, 429 
of Venango County, 432 
of Warren County, 433 
pioneer, 426 
Presbyterianism the pioneer service in 

Northwestern Pennsylvania, 276 
Presbytery of Pennsylvania organized, 264 
Presque Isle, peninsula of, 73 
Primitive enjoyments, 231 
farming utensils, 455 
methods of marketing. 454 
Profanity common spice of conversation, 
488 
in a good cause, 426 
Profits of the slave trade, 320 
Prominent stage-drivers in 1840, 380 
workers for public schools, 357 
Protestant church building, pioneer, 426 
Public highways, acts declaring rivers and 

creeks, 193 
Pugilism in 1840, 386 
Puma, color of, 119 
Pump-logs, boring, 407 
Punxsutawney, 41 

early settlers in, 553 
in 1832, 553 
made a borough, 553 
pioneer cemetery in, 553 
church in, 553 
hotel in, 553 
lawyer in, 553 
Odd Fellows' Lodge in, 553 



743 



INDEX 



Punxsutawney, pioneer school-house in, 

553 
Purchase of 1768, 61 
of 1784, 55 

boundaries of territory ceded, 58 
commissioners appointed to treat 

with Indians, 56 
c^'inties included in, 61 
i "°" ' disposing of land, 62 
Oj " .0 settlers and purchasers, 

price per hundred acres, 62, 65 
report of commissioners, 57 



Quivers, how made, 34 



Race with a panther, 517 
Rafting in 1840, 395 

on the Allegheny River, 628 
Railroad agitation and experimentation, 
686 

collision in 1837, 369 
" Raisings" in Brookville, 384 
Rates of postage in 1837, 210 
Rattlesnake, banded, 235 

black, the, 177 

description of, 236 

disposition of, 239 

food of, 236 

oil, as a medicine, 241 

Pete (Peter Gruber), 237, 241 

poison of, 239 

species and varieties of, 236 

trained to perform tricks, 239 

yellow spotted, the, 177 
Raven, the, 136, 137 

eggs of, 137 

extreme age of, 137 

home of, 137 

nest of, 137 

white, 137 

wonderful intellect of, 137 
Recollections of Brookville, 376 

of the West," graphic sketch from, 

449 

Record of big floods, 368 

Red Bank Creek, first flat-boat on, 192 

first lumber rafted down, 192 
first settlers on, 483 



Red Jacket, extract from address of, 27 

mill erected, 508 

Sunday amusements at the, 508 
Redemptioners, 330 

act for relief of, 334 

German, 336 

confiscation of property of, 340 

and punishment of, 339 

deaths among, during passage, 340, 

341 

imposed upon, 340 

in Maryland, 339 

vigorous laws for protection of, 341 

starvation of, 341 
Re-election of Lincoln, 669 
Religious rights of women in 1840, 410 
Revolution, first man to die in, 312 
Revolutionary patriots in Mercer County, 

431 
soldiers, 366 
War, expenses of, 402 
Reward for runaway apprentice girl, 338 

for runaway slaves, 322 
Reynolds, Wythie, extracts from news- 
paper writings of, 622 
Reynoldsville and Falls Creek Railroad, 

707 
Ridgway and Clearfield Railroad, 707 
county seat of Elk, 502 
early settlers in, 508 
Jacob, sketch of, 502 
town of, laid out, 508 
Township, early home of the wild 
pigeon, 507 
Elk County, 494 
Right of Tennessee to representation in 

national convention, 669 
River otter, 131 
Rivers and creeks public highways, acts 

declaring, 193 
Road to Le Bceuf, survey of, 195 

report of commissioners on, 195 
Roads and trails, early, 181 
Robin, the, 141 

Rochester and Charlotte Railroad, 703 
and Pittsburg Coal and Iron Com- 
pany, 704 
coke ovens of, 716 
daily output of coke, 716 
first operations of, 716 
main offices of, 717 



744 



INDEX 



Rochester and Pittsburg Coal and Iron 
Company, officers of, 

715 
production of coke by, 716 
superintendents of, 715 
Railroad, 703 
and State Line Railroad, 702 

opened for business, 703 
pioneer time-table of, 702 
proposals for work on, 

702 
reorganization of, 703 
officers under, 703 
sold under foreclosure, 

"03 
track-laying commenced, 
702 
Roman Catholic church of Butler County, 

423 
of Clarion County, 425 
of Crawford County, 424 
of Jefferson County, 429 
of Venango County, 433 
Rose, the, first cultivated flower, 387 
Roseville pioneer race-ground, 373 
Rumbarger, John, founder of Du Bois 
City, 660 
original name of Du Bois City, 663 
Runaway slaves, advertisements of, 322 



Sabbath, earliest recognition of, 541 

Sachems, power of, 22 

Saegerstown, borough of, incorporated, 

473 
Salt, manufacture of, 574 

warehouses at Waterford, Erie 

County, 469 
-works in Cameron County, 488 
Sandy Lick, bear-hunt on, 159 
Sapsucker, the, 145 
Saw-mill, earliest form of, 372 

of 1840, 39s 
School-books in use in 1840, 413 
discipline, early modes of, 353 
for education of teachers, 358 
house, first, in Brookville, 413 
law of 1809, 411 

master, the, " barring out," in 1840, 
413 



School, the early government of, 412 

old, Goldsmith's description of, 
412 
Schools on Indian reservations, 649 
Scotch-Irish, origin of term, 346 

pioneers of Northwestern Penn- 
sylvania principally, 348 
settle in Pennsylvani? ^47 
Tories unknown s>t n , 347 
Senators and representatii *■ Congress, 

salaries of, 309 
Seneca Indians, interesting extract re- 
lating to, 629 
oil, 629 
orators, 27 
Senecas, burial ceremonies of, 25 
Severity of winters in 1840, 393 
" Sheep saffron," 391 
" Shingle House'' Potter County, origin 

of name, 600 
" Shingle weavers," 403 
Shooting stars in 1833, 3°9 
Shrike, or butcher-bird, the, 142 
Silver buillion, first deposit of, in United 

States Mint, 343 
Singing-masters, pioneer, 247 
Slavery in 1800, 20 

in Pennsylvania in 1840, 401, 417 
introduced in Pennsylvania, 311 
statistics, 312, 364, 365 
Slave trade, profits of, 320 
Smethoort, appropriation for academ A \ 
570 » 

first house erected in, 570 
industries of, 570 
pioneer school in, 578 
public buildings in, 570 
Smith, George, wild animals killed by, 

130 
Snake-bite, treatment of, 241 

story, 580 
Snakes and reptiles, 234 
love of home of, 240 
Snowbird, the, 145 
Snow-bunting, the, 145 
Social habits of the pioneers, 17 

parties, 231 
Society of Industry, the, 574 

principles and objects of, 574 
Soldier Run, encampment at, 242 
mine, 716 



745 



INDEX 



Soldier vote, 671 

Son accidentally shoots father, 577 
Sontherland, Charles, " Black Charley," 
417 
death of, 165 
domestic life of, 165 
Squirrel, the, 134 

act of Legislature to encourage killing 

of, 135 
black, 134 

bounty for scalp of, 136 
crow and, menace to crops, 135 
gray, 135 

intelligence of, 134 
manner of crossing rivers, 135 
red, or Hudson Bay, 135 
red, taps sugar trees for sap, 136 
varieties of, 134 
St. John's Methodist Church established, 

279 
Stage-coach, arrival of, in old times, 215 
era, 203 

first, through Brookville, 215 
line between Philadelphia and 
New York, 203 
drivers, prominent, in 1840, 380 
Standard weight established by law, 

344 
State anatomical law, origin of, 300 

copy of act as passed and ap- 
proved, 305-307 
t remarks of Senator Mc- 

/ — - --Knight supporting, 307, 308 

vote on, 308 
appropriations to common schools, 

359 
road, act of Legislature sanctioning, 
185 
act to provide for opening, 183 
completion of, 184 
contract for opening, 186 
first attempt to open, 183 
survey of, 184 
the old, 181 
why made, 182 
States and Territories, coal found in, 

717 
Statistics of 1840, 361 

of Crawford County in 1840, 361 
of Jefferson County in 1840, 362 
of McKean County in 1840, 362 



Statistics of Mercer County in 1840, 362 
of Potter County in 1840, 363 
of Tioga County in 1840, 363 
of Venango County in 1840. 363 
of Warren County in 1840, 364 
Steam in land-carriages advocated, 

685 
Steamboat celebration at Franklin. 

626 
Steamboating on the Allegheny River. 

622 
Steamboats plying on the Allegheny River 

from 1840 to 1862, 626 
Stern-wheel steamboats introduced on 

western waters, 635 
Stockdale and Darlington Railroad, 707 
Stone coal discovered in America, 707 

first used in Western Pennsylva- 
nia, 707 
substitute for plaster and manure, 
708 
hatchets, 34 

turnpike, first, chartered in United 
States, 211 
Sugar camp, description of, 250 
" Sugaring off," 253 
Sugar-making, 250 
Suits in trespass, 523 

Sunbury and Erie Railroad, act to incor- 
porate, 690 
celebration in honor of first 

passenger train on, 695 
commissioners to receive 
subscriptions to stock of, 
691 
construction of, commenced, 

695 
leased to Pennsylvania Rail- 
road, 695 
length of, 695 

name changed to Philadel- 
phia and Erie, 695 
original route of, 695 
presidents of, 1837-1856, 694 
surveys of routes made, 694 
Susquehanna and Waterford turnpike, 211 
act creating, 213 
first stage-line over, 215 
milestones along, 213 
toll-gates on. 213 
Sykesville tunnel, 715 



746 



INDEX 



Taverns in Brookville, 378 

Teachers' Institute, address delivered at, 

by W. J. McKnight, 674-683 
Teachers' Institute, 359 
Tennessee, right of, to representation, in 

national convention, 669 
Thanksgiving days, pioneer, 368 
Theological Seminary of Associate Re- 
formed Church, 659 
Thompson, John Edgar, chief engineer of 
Pennsylvania Railroad, 686 
John J. Y., pioneer editor, 439-442 
elected associate judge, 441 
Thrashing grain by flail, 220 
Tin-horn used to call court, 634 
Tioga County, area and dimensions of, 
607 
celebrated for patriotism, 615 
description of surface of, 607 
early homes in, 617 
industries of, 619 
mail-carriers in, 620 
first newspaper in, 616 

prominent settlers in, 615 
wagon-road opened, 608 
formation of, 607 
improvised grist-mill in, 617 
Indian trails, villages, and grave- 
yards, 617 
lead ore discovered in, 615 
location of county seat, 610 
Morris's Mills, 609 
pioneer court in, 616 

distillery erected in, 619 
grist-mill in, 619 
horse-races in, 619 
hunters of, 617 
newspaper in, 443 
offiers of, 616 
teachers in, 620 
population of, 1810-1840, 607 
principal streams of, 617 
relation of early trip into, 618 
settlers of, in Revolutionary 

army, 615 
statistics, 363 
streams of, 607 
towns of, 615 



Tioga County, uncertainty of title to 
lands in, 609 

Navigation Company, 610 
Tipplers in the church, 422 
Titusville incorporated, 473 

Presbyterian church of, erected, 473 
Tobacco-pipes, Indian, 34 
Tome, Philip, famous interpreter, 117 
Total eclipse of sun in 1806, 368 
Towanda, churches in, 667 

city of, in 1784 purchase, 666 

early settlers in, 667 

first laid out, 667 

incorporated, 667 

location of, 666 

natural advantages of, 668 

North Branch Canal, 667 

public buildings of, 666 
Travellers' Home Hotel, 684 
Treaty of Fort Mcintosh, 1785, 78 

of Ghent, 473 

of 1762, 200 
Trees of the forest, 233 
Trespass, suits, 323 
Troops, call for, in 1814, 243 
Tunnel, first, in United States, 687 
Turkey pens, how built, 227— 
Turnpike, stone, first, chartered in United' 
States, 211 

Susquehanna and Waterford, 211 
Twine, how the Indians made, 34 



U 

Underground railroad, extent of, 318 

interesting narrative concerning, 

325 
origin of, 317 
Uniform introduced on railroads, 688 
Union army, aggregate number of men in, 

1861-65, 244 
United Presbyterian church, 263, 271 
of Butler County, 423 
of Clarion County, 426 
of Crawford County, 425 
of Mercer County, 430 
of Venango County, 433 
States, demand for coal in, 717 

first tunnel in, 687 
money, denominations of, 344 



747 



So 



INDEX 



United States, output of bituminous coal 

in, 717 
Universalist church of Crawford County, 

424 



Venango County, advantages possessed by, 
621 
area of, 621 
Baptist church, 433 
court called by means of tin horn, 

634 
Cumberland Presbyterian church, 

433 
first court held in, 633 

court-house erected in, 633 
formation of, 621 
in the war of 1S12, 632 
location of county seat, 632 
Methodist church, 432 
Mormon converts in, 636 
natural curiosities of, 629 
pioneer academy in, 634 

doctor in, 634 

mail route in, 634 

newspaper in, 443 

read through. 635 

school-house of, 633 
population of, 1800-1S40, 621 
Pre sbyterian church, 432 
principal productions of, 629 
resoi.-ces of, 621 
Roman Catholic church, 433 
statistics, 363 
streams of, 621 
surface of, 621 

United Presbyterian church, 433 
Venison jerk, 168 
Vocations of women in 1S40, 410 
Volunteer minute men of 1812, 483 
Vulcanized rubber patented, 367 

W 

Wages of American soldiers, 244 
Wagon, of 1840, description of, 395 
" Walking purchase," 3S 
War-dance, description of, 29 

Democrats, 669 
Warrants granted by lottery, 63 

apportionment of, 65 



Warren, capital of Warren County, 637 
churches at, 642 
County, area of, 637 
Baptist church, 433 
boundaries of, 650 
Brokenstraw township erected. 

652 
commissioners to run boundaries 

of, 651 
Congregational church, 433 
Cornplanter reservation, 649 
dimensions of, 637 
early settlers in, (138 
first judge in, 654 
formation of, 637 
location of county seat, 642 
lumbering in, 645 
Methodist church, 433 
pioneer court in, 652 
officers, 652 
newspaper in, 443 
population of, 1S00-1S40, 637 
Presbyterian church, 433 
public houses licensed, 653 
rafting through, 645 
river travel through, 645 
settlement of, retarded, 641 
sketches of judges of, 654, 655 
stage-coach travel in, 658 
statistics, 364 
streams in, 637 
surface of, 637 
villages of, 647-649 
established, 74 
Holland Land Company establish 

store at, 641 
incorporated, 642 
Lumberman's Bank at. 646 
pioneer ministers of, 657 
public buildings in, 642. 657 
Wars of the United States, 1775-1865, 244 
Washington's, Lieutenant-Colonel, objec- 
tions to Braddock's road, 201 
Lodge, No. 1, I. O. O. F.. 434 
Watches and clocks in 1840, 406 
Waterford and Erie Turnpike, 469 

Erie County, salt warehouses at, 460 
established, 74 
Wayne's treaty, 1795, 70 
Weasel, the, 133 

appetite of, easily satisfied, 134 



74S 



V 



INDEX 



Weasel, changes of coat of, with seasons, 

134 

homes of the, 134 
physiognomy of, 133 
poultry yard frequently visited by, 134 
Weather prognosticators, 489 
Weddings in 1780, 19 
Wellsborough, county seat of Tioga 
County, 610 
early settlers near, 610 
first church building erected in, 620 
first public school building in, 620 
incorporated, 616 
origin of name of, 616 
pioneer Methodist church services in, 
620 

tavern-keeper in, 620 
post-office opened in, 619 
Presbyterian church of, organized, 620 
Wesley. Rev. John, 278 

preaches pioneer Methodist ser- 
mon in America, 279 
Western Penitentiary, 659 

Pennsylvania, early settlers in, 199 
explored by Christopher Gist, 199 
pioneer settlement of, 199 
Theological Seminary, 659 
Westminster confession and catechism 

adopted, 276 
Where Odd Fellows came from, 434 
Whigs in Brookville in 1840, 388 
Whiskey drinking, evil effects of, 422 
free in 1840, 415 
insurrection, 1791-1794, 421 
White slavery, 330 

nature of, in Rome, Greece, and 

Europe, 310 
origin of, 310 
Who skinned the nigger, 290 
Wild animals, natural life of, 136 
cat, 130 

habitat of, 130 
nest of, 131 
young of, 131 
pigeon, early home of. 507 
turkey, the, 136, 139, 227 
Wildey, Thomas, founder of American 
Odd Fellowship, 434 



Winter amusements in 1840, 389 
Winters in 1840, severity of, 393 
Wolf, bounty on head of, 119 

endurance in a race, 132 

gray or timber, 118 

habits of the, 177 

in the tail, treatment of, 392 

pen, description of, 122 

persistence in hunting, 132 

pup, raising, 120 

trap, 123 
Wolverines, 123 
Wolves, act for killing of, 172 

calling, trick of, 158 

how deer are hunted by, 177 
Women admitted to the bar, 409 

apparel of, in 1840, 391 

higher education of, 409 

in 1840, home occupations of, 391 

industrial rights of women in 1840, 
410 

married, legal rights of, 408 

religious rights of, in 1840, 410 

vocations of, in 1840, 410 
Wooden clocks made, 367 
Woodpecker, the, 144 

courtship of, I44 ( 

feeding young, 144 

friend of the orchard, 144 

red-headed, 144 

yellow-breasted, 145 
World's coal-producing territory, 718 



Yates, Arthur G, 711 
Year without a summer, 1816, 366 
Young deserter sentenced to be shot, 670 
life saved by W. J. McKnight, 
670 



Zeisberger, Rev. David, 46, 258 

establishes mission of Frieden- 

schnetten, 260 
pioneer missionary in Forest 

County, 528 
preaches to the Indians. 259 




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